Robert Landers’ mom gave her son early lessons in giving interviews

Tracy Matthews, the mother of Ohio State defensive tackle and Wayne grad Robert Landers, arrived in Arizona on Friday and attended the Buckeye Bash, a gathering of thousands of fans at Westworld in Scottsdale.

Earlier in the week, Landers said it meant a lot to him that his mom would get to see him play in his first bowl game Saturday at University of Phoenix Stadium against Clemson. She didn’t go to the Fiesta Bowl a year ago when Landers watched from the sideline during his redshirt season.

Matthews doesn’t find it easy to watch games in person, though. She doesn’t like going to games because she gets so nervous.

“It’s different watching it on TV,” she said. “It’s easier for me to watch it on TV than it is to be at the game because I feel my blood pressure’s in the 300s.”

Landers is known for being one of the best interview subjects on the team, even though he doesn’t talk to the media as much as the starters. He owes his mom for that. She used to interview Robert and his younger brothers Trey, a freshman guard for the Dayton Flyers, and Tallice with a wooden spoon while cooking dinner in the kitchen.

“I’m big on interviewing and speaking properly,” Matthews said. “We used to watch ESPN all the time when they were in junior high. You would hear great athletes who just didn’t speak very well. I always told them if you guys make it to where you want to be as far as your dreams of making it in the NFL, the NBA or playing at the collegiate level, like he is now, you have to be able to speak and sound like you have some type of education.”

Ohio State's arrival: The buses carrying the Buckeyes arrived at stadium about two hours before kickoff. Urban Meyer stepped off the bus first. As usual, he greeted the players with hugs as they entered the locker room.

After dropping their bags in the locker room, many of the players visited the field. Defensive line coach Larry Johnson led his group, including Landers, on a full lap around the field.

Confidence factor: Las Vegas gave the Buckeyes a three-point advantage over Clemson.

How confident was Ohio State coach Urban Meyer when he took the field Saturday at University of Phoenix Stadium in the College Football Playoff semifinals?

“I think you feel confident when you have better players than your opponent,” Meyer said Friday. “It’s not rocket science to figure that out. There’s a fine line with over-preparation where you have them so worried about different schematic things that players quit playing as hard as they can. That’s the fine line we’ve been juggling right now.”

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