To say that the Ohio State football program has been ridiculously difficult to beat in the two seasons under Urban Meyer would be a vast understatement. Even though last year’s postseason did not go according to plan, the Buckeyes come into 2014 riding a 24 game regular season winning streak, the longest in the nation. During that unbeaten run, they averaged 42.67 points per game and won by an average of 21.15 points.
As is the case pretty much every year, expectations are voluminously high in Columbus. What distinguishes this approaching season from others in the past is the manner in which college football’s power brokers have revamped the sport’s postseason. With the inaugural four-team College Football Playoff looming, more pressure than ever will be on the perennial heavyweights in all of the major conferences to deliver, and Ohio State is no exception.
Braxton Miller returns for his final season in the Scarlet and Grey as a bona fide Heisman Trophy candidate. Perhaps no other dual-threat quarterback in the game is as crucial to his team’s playoff qualification chances as Miller will undoubtedly be for the Buckeyes. Last year, he led all major conference signal callers with 89 rushing yards per game and also found the end zone on the ground 12 times.
What makes Miller such a dangerous threat as a running quarterback is his ability to make things happen wherever the offense is on the field, not just in the red zone. Of his 12 rushing touchdowns in 2013, half of them were scores of 20 yards or more. Compare that with Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, another dual-threat Heisman favorite, who scored on runs beyond the red zone only three times out of nine.
Having Meyer as the leader of Buckeye football certainly has contributed to Miller’s overall growth in a system where the quarterback is required to have a good arm while also being able to make plays on the ground when necessary. His track record in developing quarterbacks of this nature speaks for itself. Perhaps his most famous pupil, Tim Tebow, won a Heisman Trophy and a national championship during Meyer’s tenure at Florida.
Buckeyes Offensive Line Remains A Big Question Mark
Staying healthy will be key for Miller if this team wants to harbor dreams of a Big Ten title and a berth in the Playoff. Last year, he missed time on two separate occasions due to a sprained knee and underwent minor shoulder surgery in the offseason after injuring it in the Orange Bowl loss to Clemson. Kenny Guiton was phenomenal during his spells filling in, but he has since graduated, leaving sophomore Cardale Jones as the backup with virtually no in-game reps.
Compounding the problem are the serious depth issues that face the offensive line going into preseason camp. Two all-conference players, Andrew Norwell and Jack Mewhort, have graduated. Coach Meyer was overwhelmingly forthright when describing the state of the relatively inexperienced group during Big Ten Media Day on Monday. “We just didn’t see the growth that we’d like to see,” said Meyer of the unit coming out of spring ball.
It will be imperative for this component of the offense to make strides in August and over the course of their non-conference slate. Perhaps no unit is punished more in the always-physical Big Ten for being a weak link than the offensive line. OSU’s rushing game set a conference record in 2013, gaining 4321 yards on the ground, an achievement made possible in part due to the sheer physicality exhibited up front.
To say that the development of the offensive line is not the chief concern going into preseason practice would be contradicting the general consensus of the coaching staff. When asked about it, Meyer was unabashed in describing it as “concern number one.” Given Miller’s dual role in the offense in addition to the injury issues already discussed, it’s not a stretch to make a convincing argument that the Buckeyes’ title hopes hinge on this young unit’s ability to improve by leaps and bounds on a weekly basis.
Of the skill positions, the biggest question marks are undoubtedly centered on the running back position. Carlos Hyde had a season for the ages last year, and parlayed his performance into a second round selection in the NFL Draft. Who will step up in 2014? All indications point to true sophomore Dontre Wilson. The DeSoto, TX native saw quite a bit of playing time as a freshman, especially on special teams, and ranked 32nd nationally in kickoff return yards, averaging 24.9 yards per game. He also finished fourth on the team in all-purpose yards (983).
As inexperienced as the backfield is, the opposite can be said about the pass catchers on the roster, with three seniors, Evan Spencer and Devin Smith at wideout and Jeff Heuerman at tight end, amongst the starters. Meyer is expecting a great deal from this group, especially as it relates to taking a bit of pressure off of the young running game. “I’ll be disappointed if the receivers…aren’t ready to carry their own weight,” he said on Monday, clearly anticipating a big year from his most experienced unit on offense other than Miller.
For the 2014 edition of the Ohio State Buckeyes, the success of the offensive specialists will ultimately be tied into how quickly the big guys up front can shed their inexperience. If you’ve followed this conference for any extended period of time, it should be clear that oftentimes the winning formula in the Big Ten is elite offensive line play combined with the ability to rack up yards on the ground.
Ohio State nearly rode this formula to the BCS title game in 2013. For them to realize their stated goal of being amongst the last four standing when college football contests its first ever playoff at regular season’s end, it will require what Meyer referred to as “chemistry and trust,” as well as the younger starters pulling above their weight and putting in the work necessary to take their play to the next level.
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