[Upchurch/Barron-MGoBlog]

Kyle Kalis and Mike McCray

Kyle, you guys went back to the knee braces after the Newsome thing. Was that a direct order from the coaches, and would you have done it anyway?

“Me personally, I’ve always worn knee braces but yeah, for everybody else it was kind of a mandatory thing. With Grant’s injury, it’s hard to tell if it would have made a difference, but it can’t hurt you so that’s kind of why we went back to wearing them is for precautionary reasons.”

Mike, you’ve had a pretty successful year kind of quietly. Do you feel like maybe you’re an unsung guy on the team?

“Not really. You know, it’s the whole defense. I feel like we’ve done a great job so far the first six games, and I don’t think about myself getting noticed and things like that because it’s a whole-team thing. So, I really don’t think about it at all.”

Jim had mentioned when he got here you weren’t completely healthy and that he’s seen you come through a lot. Can you walk me through that as far as this time last year and a backup role or maybe not playing to you’re at the forefront now.

“Last year, didn’t play at all. It’s just a lot different now than it was this time last year. I feel a lot better. My spirit, I’m not down about myself of anything like that, so it’s a great time right now.”

MGoQuestion: Kyle, were knee braces optional last year as well or was that something new this year?

“Yeah, they were optional last year as well. Yeah.”

[After THE JUMP: keeping an eye on OSU]

I’m gonna follow up on that again. Is it bulky? Does it slow you down at all, the braces?

“No. I mean, it’s just kind of like a feel thing. A lot of guys just prefer how it feels without them on because there’s something on your knees. I think it’s kind of like a mental—more of a mental thing than anything. Guys feel like they can play faster and more free without them, which, you know, it doesn’t make difference. It’s not a big deal, so put ‘em on and strap ‘em up. Just straight for precautionary [reasons].”

Mike, you guys are right at the top of the nation at stopping teams on third downs. In your mind, what goes into that and what’s good about this defense that allows you to do that so frequently?

“You know, we always talk about getting off the field and third down’s a big part of that, of course. On third down you want to get off the field and so far we’ve done a great job. We just want to keep doing what we’re doing throughout the rest of the year.”

Does it mean anything to you guys that you’re ranked higher than you’ve been in ten year, and how do you stay hungry when you’re near the top?

KK: “I think we’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing, and that’s preparing like no one else is, I think, and keeping that work ethic up and not slowing down at all. We started getting ranked higher earlier in the season—you guys were asking about it, too—and obviously we want to go higher. The goal is to go as high as we can. But yeah, just continue what we’re doing and it’ll pay off.”

Kyle, the run game seems like its balanced a little bit. Of course the Rutgers game helped, but what have you noticed balance-wise from the running backs in the first half of the season? Is it where you guys expected to be as an O-line?

“Yeah. The backs are doing a really good job just trusting us, trusting us to open holes up. They’ve had really good patience coming downhill and waiting for it to open up and knowing the precise time to hit it. Being a back, that’s the biggest thing is having that patience to let the play kind of express itself and then hit the hole. That’s what they’ve done a really job at.”

As a couple of Ohio guys, do you take a peek at what Ohio State is doing or is it just locked in on the next game?

KK: “I don’t know how I should answer this.”

MM: “For me, I just worry about the next game. I don’t really think about them until that week comes, you know. Right now we’ve got to think about Illinois and not worry about what they’re doing at all to basically keep us—it’ll take us off focus of our goal.”

KK: “Yeah. I mean, you definitely keep an eye out for them, but like Mike said, you can’t really focus on them that much. In the back of your mind you know that that game is coming down the stretch so you’ve got to keep your eye out for them.”

Do you watch them?

KK: “Oh yeah. Oh yeah, I watch them.”

Analytically or just kind of--

“Yeah, I mean, every time I watch a game I just watch the line. That’s just how I’m programmed. I’m sure Mike watches the linebackers and stuff, so I watched the line and they did well. That was a really good game. Yeah. that was a good game.”

Do you watch their D-line as well?

“Yeah, yeah. That’s what I was talking about. But yeah, I watch their O-line as well, too.”