After losses, Ohio State reloads
Talented young players have chance to build on past success
The freshman has only been on campus for a little while now, but the story has already become familiar.
Urban Meyer tells of a conversation this summer, the Ohio State coach texting back and forth with several members of the Bosa family about the rapid progress of freshman Nick Bosa from a knee injury.
“Have patience,” Nick’s big brother, Joey, suggested. Meyer texted back: “No.” No one is really certain how quickly Nick Bosa will be ready to go or if he’ll be able to live up to the considerable standard set by his older brother, a college pass-rushing terror who was the third pick in the NFL draft last spring. But Nick Bosa was one of the nation’s top recruits in 2016. Although Ohio State’s coaches are being cautious with his reconstructed knee, expectations are very high for a player Meyer says is ahead of his brother at the same point in their careers — and recall, Joey Bosa started as a freshman.
Maybe that’s because with these Buckeyes patience isn’t really part of the equation.
As kickoff approaches for Meyer’s fifth season in Colum-
bus, here are a few important numbers: Six starters return — fewest among Football Bowl Subdivision teams. There are only six seniors on the roster. Forty-four scholarship players — almost 52% of the Buckeyes’ total — have never taken a college snap.
And: Ohio State is ranked No. 5 in the preseason Amway Coaches Poll.
All of which means everything has changed for the Buckeyes but nothing has. That star-studded nucleus that won 50 games and a national championship — Bosa, Ezekiel Elliott and so many others — is gone, mostly off to the NFL. Another set of numbers: 12 Buckeyes were drafted, including three in the top 10 (Bosa, Elliott and cornerback Eli Apple) and five in the first round.
What’s left is junior quarterback J.T. Barrett, junior linebacker Raekwon McMillan and newcomers and understudies who are about to be thrust into leading roles. Which only means this: “I think there’s going to be a lot of names made,” offensive lineman Michael Jordan says.
Jordan, a 6-7, 310-pound freshman, is expected to start at one guard spot, which is in part a reflection of the attrition and in part a testament to his talent. He’s one of several guys who are expected to emerge, and perhaps very soon. Ask a veteran Buckeye — or ask all of the veteran Buckeyes; it won’t take long, because there aren’t many — which youngster has caught his eye, and you’ll get multiple answers.
Get familiar with Mike Weber, replacing Elliott (the No. 4 pick in the draft) at running back, and Denzel Ward, replacing Apple (the No. 10 pick) at cornerback. It’s time to get to know Isaiah Prince at offensive tackle and Sam Hubbard, who had 6 1⁄2 sacks at defensive end last season but was overshadowed by Bosa. We could keep going, but we’d miss somebody.
For most programs this kind of wholesale change would seem like a recipe for a step back. It’s why some preseason predictions have Michigan as the favorite to win the Big Ten East Division. But just maybe Meyer has already built the program into something like we’ve seen Nick Saban do at Alabama: Guys leave every year for the NFL — and then like shark teeth, new guys simply emerge and become stars.
“The issue would be if it was a non-talented young team,” Meyer said last month at Big Ten media days. “That’s not the case at all. It’s a very young team — but talented.” ‘WE HAVE A GREAT CULTURE’ Jordan, at least, appears to understand the expectations. Gesturing to a wall on one sideline of the Buckeyes indoor practice facility, where national championship banners hang, he says, “That’s the standard we’re all held to. All the young guys like me, if we’re going to start, that’s the standard that we’re held to.”
The most recent national championship banner is from the 2014 season, which seems fairly important. Already people are drawing hopeful parallels between then and now. When Meyer says, “Those guys were no-names,” he means at the beginning of the 2014 season, when the Buckeyes had talented but inexperienced players replacing departed standouts.
Among many possible examples: Elliott replaced Carlos Hyde, who had been a linchpin of Meyer’s first couple of teams. Barrett took over when Braxton Miller was injured in preseason camp. And then Cardale Jones emerged when Barrett went down in the final game of the regular season.
It wasn’t seamless; Ohio State lost at home in early September to Virginia Tech. But by the end of 2014, the Buckeyes had emerged as stars and became national champions.
“That team got better and better,” Meyer says. “I won’t know that (about the 2016 team) for a while. That team, they grew, I’m not sure I’ve ever had another team grow like that.”
Meyer reflects, as well, to his 2006 Florida team, also “an unheard-of, no-name team that just got better and better and better” — and not coincidentally, won the Bowl Championship Series national title. Could this team be like those? The formula is pretty simple:
“The real thing is we have a great culture and great coaches at Ohio State,” says senior center Pat Elflein, one of two returning starters on the offensive line. “All that plus great players … the equation is there. We’ve just got to go out and do it now.”
Even if we assign equal weight to each factor, talent is pretty important. All these new guys moving into starting, and maybe starring, roles? Recruiting junkies know them. Since arriving at Ohio State, Meyer has stacked nationally ranked class upon nationally ranked class. There’s a direct correlation.
“We had to wait our turn,” says Weber, a redshirt freshman who was a top-10 recruit at his position. “We’re a young team just like they were when they won the national championship. I feel like we have a lot more — or just as much — talent as they did that year.”
EXPECTATIONS STILL HIGH
But what comes next depends on how much and how quickly this latest bunch develops.
“They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t talented, but technique and fundamentals of the game is the difference,” Barrett says. “The skill they need to play at a high level is what we’re lacking overall. That’s going to take game reps and game speed. It’s going to be good for us. Once we learn that, we’re going to be good.”
The growth curve needs to be quick. Ohio State visits No. 3 Oklahoma in Week 3. Still, the Buckeyes probably could overcome a loss — not that anyone in Columbus is ready to concede it — and rebound to win the Big Ten and reach the College Football Playoff.
Considering the change on the depth chart, that anyone is even considering the idea is testament to what has been built, the talent that has been gathered. The names are new, but the expectations haven’t changed — and maybe they shouldn’t.
“Tell the fans to strap in,” junior guard Billy Price says, “and see what we’ve got.”