Urban Meyer couldn't wait until someone brought up something else other than his offense, the quarterbacks, play calling or anything in between.
"There we go. Boy, our secondary's playing outstanding," Ohio State's head coach said Wednesday after practice at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. "Punt team's good, too. Punt team. P-U-N-T punt. Punt team."
Meyer stepped over the reporter who finally quipped something, anything about Ohio State's defense, going off on a tangent before re-centering himself, apologizing and heeding their question about Chris Ash's impact in now his second year in Columbus.
Ohio State's defense has been stout in its 3-0 start to 2015, particularly the last two weeks against Hawai'i (a shutout) and Northern Illinois (a 20-13 victory). But concerns remain about the Buckeye offense along with an uncertainty at the most important position on the field.
Meyer, though, is tired of hearing about it and entertaining the idea that the offense's miscues and inconsistencies is solely on who's taking a shotgun snap from Jacoby Boren.
"It's not him. It's the offense right now is in a funk," Meyer said. "Every time you say, 'Boy what a great game by the quarterback.' No. It was a great game by the offense. When you're not getting protected, when you're not balanced or control the line of scrimmage, when you're not perimeter blocking very good, the quarterback struggles."
The Buckeyes tallied 572 yards of total offense against Virginia Tech Labor Day Night in a 42-24 victory at Lane Stadium, thwarting the 46 Bear Cover 0 look the Hokies sprung on them that blocked any chance Ohio State had at a perfect season in 2014.
“All this focus on that guy behind center, I get. Everybody's gotta do their job, but that's not my focus. That's not our focus. It's all together.”– Urban Meyer
Since then, however, underwhelming performances to the tune of just 363 and 298 total yards against Hawai'i and Northern Illinois, respectively, have the natives restless in Columbus. Cardale Jones — who Meyer said Wednesday will start Saturday against Western Michigan — was yanked in both contests in favor of J.T. Barrett, as Meyer looked for any spark to ignite the unit.
Both players have largely been ineffective at home, but Meyer wanted everyone to know Wednesday it's not all on them.
"All this focus on that guy behind center, I get," Meyer said. "Everybody's gotta do their job, but that's not my focus. That's not our focus. It's all together."
Graduated seniors starters Jeff Heuerman, Devin Smith and Evan Spencer in addition to a season-ending leg injury to Noah Brown left gaping holes for younger players to fill in 2015. The production hasn't been what was expected, though, with Ezekiel Elliott averaging under five yards per carry the last two games, the wide receiver unit hardly producing outside of Michael Thomas and turnovers constantly rearing their ugly head.
"I feel like Saturday is going to be exciting," Thomas said Wednesday. "We're going to play angry and we're going to execute at a high tempo."
Meyer again reiterated the offensive line is where it all starts, as he has many times before. But it's not just that unit, the quarterbacks or any one spot on the offense.
"We have to control the line of scrimmage, have very good perimeter blocking because we have athletes and you have to have a devastating play-action passing game," Meyer said. "That's when you start seeing No. 1 offenses in the country."
The Buckeyes certainly have that potential, both Meyer and his players know it. It's just a work in progress across the board, with the Broncos and a 3:30 p.m. kickoff awaiting them Saturday.
"We’re kind of pissed off, honestly, with the way we’ve been playing," Boren said Wednesday. "I think it’s time for us to run the Buckeye offense that we’ve known the past couple years."
