Meyer limited in what he can do now in return to Ohio State

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, with two games remaining in his suspension, returned to work Monday at the Woody Hayes Practice Facility.

“We’re looking forward to getting him back and looking forward to those meetings and building as we go (for) Rutgers,” acting coach Ryan Day said. “But it will be business as usual for us. We’ll look at the film, make corrections, go from there.”

Here’s what we know about the Buckeyes as Meyer returns to work this week.

Meyer will be silent

He will not speak to the media until after his suspension is over. The final game of his suspension is an away game against TCU on Sept. 15. Until that time, Ryan Day remains acting head, a job he has held since Aug. 1.

What Meyer can and cannot do

He can perform the normal duties of a head coach, including planning, interacting with players and being on the practice field, up until the 24 hours surrounding the next two games against Rutgers and TCU. He cannot be in attendance when the games are being played. There was no practice Monday, but it was anticipated some players might stop by to see Meyer.

What Meyer is coming back to

An offense that looked impressively dangerous against Oregon in Week 1. It’s too early, and Oregon State was too leaky defensively, to draw lasting conclusions. But the Buckeyes looked balanced, dynamic and proficient in accumulating 721 yards and 10 offensive touchdowns.

“We played with tempo and we were aggressive. We stretched the field horizontally and we stretched it vertically, which is the goal,” Day said.

Who Meyer should enjoy watching on video

Sophomore quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. looked like he is ready to emerge as one of the nation’s major differencemakers. He threw for 313 yards and five touchdowns, both Ohio State records for a quarterback in his first start.

Perhaps more important, junior running back Mike Weber ran for a career-best 186 yards. The junior had a frustrating 2017 season, marked by injury and a reduction of carries. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards in his freshman season and 626 in 2017.

If Weber continues to surge and J.K. Dobbins remains highly effective, Ohio State’s running game will be among the nation’s best.

What the Buckeyes need to fix

Their defense. The Ohio State defense was sloppy against Oregon State. The Buckeyes gave up 392 yards to a team that was among the nation’s worst offensive squads last season. Artavis Pierce had scoring runs of 76 and 80 yards against their first-stringers. In the first five minutes of the game, Oregon State quarterback Conor Blount threw a 49-yard touchdown pass.

Ohio State didn’t have the same efficiency on defense as it had on offense.