Preview: Western Michigan at No. 1 Ohio State

P.J. Fleck knew he was smart, but he didn't ever think his credentials as a student would help him break into the coaching ranks.

"I’d never met Jim Tressel, he offers me a job out of the clear blue sky," Fleck said Tuesday during his weekly press conference about his first experience in coaching, way back in 2006. "The first question he asks me is not, ‘Are you going to be a good football coach,’ it’s ‘Can you get into school?’ Yes. 'You’re hired.' Perfect."

WESTERN MICHIGAN BRONCOS

1–2, 0–0 MAC ROSTER SCHEDULE

3:30 PM – SATURDAY, SEP. 26 OHIO STADIUM COLUMBUS, OH

ABC/ESPN2 WATCHESPN

The former Ohio State head football coach brought Fleck in as a graduate assistant that season, barely three weeks after the lively, energetic and spry then-25-year-old got released by the San Francisco 49ers.

"I walked in there three weeks before training camp, got cut by the 49ers, the offensive GA couldn’t get into the school there," Fleck, now 34, recalled. "He didn’t have the grades to get into the master’s program."

Instead, Tressel gave Fleck a call and the former Northern Illinois all-conference wide receiver headed to Columbus before he really knew what was happening. The rest, they say, is history.

Fleck — the highest paid MAC head coach with an $800,000 base salary — is now in his sixth different coaching position since getting going in 2006, working mainly with former Rutgers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano. Schiano is a good friend of Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer, the man Fleck will lead his Broncos against Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in Columbus in each team's final non-conference regular season game of 2015.

"Urban Meyer is the greatest coach in college football right now," Fleck said Tuesday, noting the top-ranked Buckeyes will be unlike any other team his Western Michigan squad will face all season.

"It’s a challenge. It’s definitely a challenge," Fleck said. "And it’s the biggest challenge they’re going to face all year. We gotta be ready for it."

OPPONENT BREAKDOWN

The Broncos sport a pair of talented junior wide receivers, Daniel Braverman and Corey Davis. Braverman leads the country in receptions with 40 through three games, 10 more than the next closest player. He and Davis — 18 receptions — account for more than half of quarterback Zach Terrell's 82 completions in 2015.

Braverman isn't the biggest guy — he's listed at just 5-foot-10 and 177 pounds — but plays fast, with quick hands and penchant for catching short passes and turning them into larger gains.

2015 STATISTICAL COMPARISON (h/t Remy)

2015 STATS	RANK	CATEGORY	2015 STATS	RANK
33.3	51st	Points For	31.0	63rd
12.3	11th	Points Against	33.3	103rd
		OFFENSE
234.3	26th	Rushing Offense	93.3	122nd
176.7	104th	Passing Offense	327.7	18th
411.0	75th	Total Offense	421.0	66th
		DEFENSE
106.0	28th	Rushing Defense	224.0	108th
119.0	5th	Pass Defense	189.0	46th
225.0	5th	Total Defense	413.0	93rd
		OFF. MISC.
.333	102nd	3rd Down Conv.	.500	10th
.800	88th	Red Zone	.786	96th
14.0	31st	Punt Return	13.0	37th
25.0	37th	Kickoff Return	28.9	14th
		DEF. MISC.
.314	42nd	3rd Down Conv.	.525	120th
1.00	111th	Red Zone	.923	105th
81.6	4th	Pass Eff. Def.	127.0	73rd
41.4	22nd	Net Punting	35.4	96th
		MISC.
0.0	61st	Turnover Margin	-2.0	120th
6.3	61st	Penalties Per Game	6.7	70th
	Total: 11	THE EDGE	Total: 8

"One thing I've noticed is that they like to throw a lot of bubbles and screens to him, get him in space," Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple said Monday of Braverman. "He doesn't really do too many vertical routes. He's a possession type of guy, they like to use him in the flats and things like that. He's very quick and he's definitely going to be a good challenge for us."

Fleck said Tuesday the combination of Braverman and Davis could make it on any Power 5 team's roster in the nation.

"They're two of the best wide receivers in the country," he said.

Meyer agreed Thursday on his radio show, saying Braverman is "an NFL guy."

Western Michigan's backup quarterback, Tom Flacco, went to the same high school as Apple in Voorhees, N.J. Flacco's older brother Joe is a Super Bowl winning quarterback with the Baltimore Ravens, and Apple said he often caught passes from Tom in high school.

"It was great, he's a great guy. I can't wait to see him on Saturday," Apple said. "Hopefully I'll have a chance to play against him as well."

While Western Michigan's been throwing the ball plenty in 2015, sophomore running back Jarvion Franklin earned MAC Offensive Player of the Year honors last season when he posted 1,551 yards and 24 touchdowns on the ground. Former Michigan Wolverine running back Mike Hart is the Bronco running backs coach, helping turn Franklin into an all-conference performer his first year on staff.

The lone player on Western Michigan's roster from Columbus is its punter, J. Schroeder, who attended St. Charles Prep in Bexley.

The Broncos come to Ohio Stadium fresh off their first win of 2015, a 52-20 thumping of Murray State. It's the second consecutive week the Racers serve as a tune up for Ohio State's opponent — Northern Illinois defeated them 57-26 Sept. 12.

Western Michigan's quick passing game and intention to get its skill guys in space might serve as a formidable test for a stout Buckeye secondary, but its own defensive unit leaves much to be desired. In a 43-17 victory over the Broncos Sept. 12, Georgia Southern rushed for 413 yards and five touchdowns. The Eagles only threw the ball four times (completing one pass) and still won by four possessions.

The Buckeyes struggled at times to run the ball with consistency against Northern Illinois last Saturday, a mere rung on the ladder of issues the offense endured for the second straight week. Meyer credited the effort of the Huskies and the fact that they played an odd-man defensive front — something Ohio State hardly saw on film — for the bulk of the unit's difficulties, but assured the media Wednesday everything is being done to prevent that from happening again.

"We're preparing for the 4-3, man-free, but we also are never going to go into a game without a three-down, odd or bear front," Meyer said. "They play a little bit of Bear and I'm sure they're going to play a little bit of 3-4. We have to execute against all of them."

Meyer's assurances hold some backing, particularly late in the 2014 season when Ezekiel Elliott torched Oregon in the national title game. Kyle Jones went further into the best ways the Buckeyes can counteract the odd-man front in order to have success in the running game, complete with jet sweep motion and wham blocking.

For more on how the two teams compare statistically through three games, check out the table above (bless you, Remy).

BUCKEYE BREAKDOWN

For now the second straight week, the Buckeye offense has been the talk both within and outside the program in mainstream media. Meyer's power spread attack has looked anything but powerful in underwhelming performances against Hawai'i and Northern Illinois, tallying fewer than five yards per play in each.

Cardale Jones yielded to J.T. Barrett at quarterback against the Huskies after he threw two interceptions in the first half, never seeing the field again. Meyer decided to stick with Jones this weekend, saying that Barrett's not done enough either in practice or games to beat him out for the starting job.

The offense is Jones' show to run.

He also noted that the inconsistencies on offense — dropped passes, penalties, missed blocks, mental errors — don't all fall on the quarterbacks; the group as a whole is having issues.

"The key to an offense for us, and for anybody that's a good offense, is control the line of scrimmage, very good on the perimeter and a very good play-action passing game," Meyer said. "Control the line of scrimmage, things start moving. Big games last year, that's what happened. You control the line of scrimmage and then you start moving the ball."

The absences of Evan Spencer, Devin Smith and Jeff Heuerman are palpable for the Ohio State offense, but there are more than enough capable bodies to replace them. The group is still working through the transitional phase away from that veteran presence, as well as having Ed Warinner calling plays instead of Tom Herman.

"I don't know if it was the rain or we don't want to make excuses of what exactly happened last Saturday. We put that behind us," wide receiver Michael Thomas said. "We came out Tuesday and Wednesday and executed at a high level. It should be exciting Saturday."

It's the offense's final non-conference tune-up before heading to Indiana to kick off Big Ten play. Meyer reportedly made a promise to the defense — which ranks fifth nationally in total yards allowed per game with 225 — that the offense would perform better moving forward. Darron Lee's 41-yard interception return for a touchdown was the difference in the 20-13 victory against the Huskies.

"It’s kind of cool to see that out of the head coach and it’s something that — we’re all in it together and it’s something that we need to work together at to get better," center Jacoby Boren said.

Saturday offers another opportunity.

HOW IT PLAYS OUT

Fleck's crew is going to play hard and continue to do its best to embody the "Row The Boat" mantra he put in place for his program, but Western Michigan's shortcomings on defense should allow for Ohio State to win this game rather easily.

The Buckeye offense is struggling, but was at this point of the season last year. Yes, there are different faces both in the lineup and on the coaching staff, but as long as Meyer's around, he should be able to get the issues ironed out.

Ohio State is a huge favorite once again (31.5 points), but as we saw last week against another MAC team in Northern Illinois, that doesn't translate to a big victory. With all due respect to the Broncos, though, they're not on the same level as the Huskies.

The Broncos gave No. 2 Michigan State everything it could handle Week 1, dropping a 37-24 decision in Kalamazoo, Mich., to one of the nation's best teams. Terrell threw for 365 yards and a pair of scores against the Spartans, so he shouldn't — and likely won't — be taken lightly by anyone.

With the way the Buckeye defense performed in recent weeks — showing a ton of speed and loads of depth — and another week of Jones as the starting quarterback on an offense with a ton of talent, Ohio State will be bound and determined to show exactly why it is the No. 1 team in the country.

ELEVEN WARRIORS STAFF PREDICTION: Ohio State 40, Western Michigan 12