Sophomore wide receiver Binjimen Victor (9) runs the ball during the Ohio State game against Maryland on Oct. 7 at Ohio Stadium. The Buckeye won 62-14. Credit: Sheridan Hendrix | Oller Reporter
Ohio State sophomore wide receiver Binjimen Victor has emerged as one of the top threats for quarterback J.T. Barrett. He has caught six passes for 124 yards and a pair of touchdowns over the past two games.
During Tuesday’s Big Ten coaches teleconference, head coach Urban Meyer said Victor has plenty of potential still left to reach and the 6-foot-4 wideout is continuing his ascendence.
“We’re not even scratching the surface of his ability level. He’s got so much more left,” Meyer said. “We haven’t even seen near the ceiling of what he has, ability-wise. A great young man that’s just working at learning how to work all the time and go all the time. He’s a very talented guy.”
Meyer drew comparisons between the jump-ball ability of Victor to a pair of past Ohio State wideouts.
“Cris Carter, years and years and years ago, when we were here together,” Meyer said. “You’ve got [Michael] Thomas was good, really good at going up and getting the ball, but [Victor is just] sheer size and wingspan … and he’s got great ball skills.”
Nebraska head coach Mike Riley previewed the upcoming matchup against the Buckeyes during his segment during the teleconference. He said his team is ready for the challenge of hosting Ohio State, but he is not sure how much of an impact home-field advantage will have.
“It’s good to play at home for us, but you know, this is a team with a veteran quarterback that is hitting on all cylinders, very talented, well-coached and so, it is a particular challenge and it’ll be however good for our team,” Riley said. “We played a good team last week and got beat by Wisconsin and so this will be another step up and another great group of athletes and a great challenge for the Huskers.”
Here are some additional notes from the teleconference:
Meyer on the kickoff specialist: “We have trouble kicking it through the end zone, too. No, if it was that simple I’d [have them kick touchbacks]. It’s more complicated than that, but absolutely we’re always constantly — you don’t fit a square peg in a round hole, you do what you can do. And we’re still figuring out what we can do.”
Meyer on the right guard battle: “It’s wide open. There’s three people right now in the running for it. Malcolm Pridgeon, Matt Burrell and Demetrius Knox.”
Meyer on the Big Ten’s targeting call on Denzel Ward: “Well, what you do is you turn [game video] in each week, and I’ll have a guy on our staff call the Big Ten officiating, and then report back was that you know on the field, it’s a snap judgment, but the replay official was in error. And so we’re going to reward Denzel Ward today at practice for a caused fumble and he should not have been ejected. And it was a mistake.”
Meyer on if the Ward call had happened in a major game: “Oh concerned, irate, all the above. And it’s not the person on the field. Those are snap judgments, those are, you can’t, I just don’t understand how that happens. But that’s, that’s for the higher-ups to figure out. Yeah, of course. Concern is probably not strong enough.”
Meyer on using a tight end as a fullback: “We’re always looking for ways to make things better. And we cited a couple offenses and obviously [offensive coordinators] Kevin Wilson and Ryan Day brought this to my attention of what I thought. We ran it 20 times in the game, so we’re still working on it, it’s a new play. And obviously, once you have a play, you have to build off the play-action pass and et cetera, but it was very effective and we’re going to continue it.”
