Ohio State faces an entirely different mountain to climb ahead of Urban Meyer's fifth season in Columbus than it did last year at this time, but the head coach remains unsure what kind of team he'll have to scale it.
"I think last year was a veteran group so if I ever have another veteran group I'll learn from that," Meyer said Sunday. "This is a lot like '14."
Names like Ezekiel Elliott, J.T. Barrett, Darron Lee, Eli Apple and others made up the roster ahead of Ohio State's 2014 season, one in which it won the national championship. This year's team is even younger than that, which is why Meyer said it's going to take a few weeks to truly know if it will reach its potential. Things have to get hard first.
“This one feels different. I don't want to screw it up.”– Urban Meyer on 2016 fall camp
"I'm counting on practice 12 is going to be that line of demarcation where I'll tell you what kind of team we'll have," Meyer said. "When it gets tough and hard, and they kind of don't like it and they turn around and look for guys like Taylor Decker and Darron Lee and Josh Perry, we'll be average.
"If we see some guys step up like we did in '14 and last year, then we have a chance to be special. Because athleticism is not an issue."
Ohio State's recent recruiting classes rival the nation's best, so the team isn't short on talent. The lack of inexperience speaks volumes — 44 players have yet to play a snap of college football — so installing consistency is of the essence. The Buckeyes split up the freshmen from the upperclassmen on the first day of camp like usual. That changes from here on out.
"I think we're a very athletic team. It's good to have everybody there (Monday)," Meyer said. "This morning, very slow, just teaching them how to practice."
That part of the development is gone, but expectations remain the same at Ohio State. Meyer knows it too and sees a potential for his team to compete for the Big Ten and national title like any other year.
"With the experience we had last year, it wasn’t like there was a different approach. We still had the same feel, we came out there juiced up and ready to go," Barrett said. "It was just different numbers, different faces, but it wasn’t crazy different because the approach was the same."
So while youth is the name of the game at Ohio State as it begins its quest for a ninth national championship, Meyer knows it's going to take some time and hard practices before he truly knows on what level the group can compete.
"This one feels different," Meyer said. "I don't want to screw it up. You guys know me well enough. After all these years, I don't want to look back and say, 'Dammit why didn't I do this?' Or you put them in too many contact situations. But every year is different.
"It's exciting too because it would be a little bit depressing if you walked in here and we weren't very good. I think we have a chance to be pretty good."
