Urban Meyer knows how much attention is on Ohio State's spring game, an annual event used as an advantage to add the necessary heat to his roster in order to witness how it reacts in front of a big crowd.
Thing is, he hopes for an even bigger crowd than normal this Saturday because more than half the players he has at his disposal have yet to play meaningful minutes for the Buckeyes.
"The value this year is greater probably than our four years here to see how these young players respond," Meyer said Monday.
The spring game serves as not only a stopgap between the actual season and the long haul of summer, but provides an opportunity for fans who can't afford or make a trip to Columbus for an actual home game to see the Buckeyes play at Ohio Stadium without emptying their wallets.
Ohio State set a national record last year in spring game attendance with 99,391. The program was fresh off Meyer's first national championship in Columbus and a quarterback battle loomed, though Cardale Jones was the only one among him, J.T. Barrett and Braxton Miller healthy enough to play.
“There's nothing like performing in front of 100,000 people.”– Urban Meyer
Meyer wants more this time around, because 18 seniors graduated and nine others left early for the NFL Draft. The team is young, which leaves the spring game to hold more weight than usual.
"The one thing that we're going to have, it's supposed to be great weather, I hope we have 100,000 people here so that's another appeal to our fans to come out," Meyer said. "This year more than last year, I want to see Joe Burrow perform in front of 100,000 people in the stadium. And I want to see Mike Weber perform in front of 100,000 people."
Burrow and Weber are a pair of redshirt freshmen who set to figure largely into Ohio State's plans for this fall, even if it at different capacities. Weber remains in a close battle with fifth-year senior Bri'onte Dunn for the lead tailback spot, while Burrow wants to further secure his place as the No. 2 quarterback behind Barrett.
The defensive line lost stalwarts Joey Bosa and Adolphus Washington in addition to seniors Joel Hale and Tommy Schutt after 2015. The Buckeyes have bodies to fill the holes, but they haven't done much on the field yet. There just wasn't room or a need.
"On the defensive line, how is Dre'Mont (Jones) going to perform in a nice, loud environment where things are going on and it's chaos?" Meyer said, mentioning another redshirt freshman. "So I'm appealing to our fans to come out and support us."
Meyer wants to see if Jones and others like Robert Landers, Jashon Cornell, Davon Hamilton and Joshua Alabi can make plays in the trenches.
He is curious to see what the young crop of wideouts including Austin Mack, Alex Stump and old heads like James Clark, Terry McLaurin and Parris Campbell can do with top pass catchers Curtis Samuel, Noah Brown, Corey Smith and Dontre Wilson nursing injuries.
He wants to see who among Damon Webb, Denzel Ward, Eric Glover-Williams, Joshua Norwood, Marshon Lattimore, and Damon Arnette moves out front in the secondary battle with Gareon Conley as the lone returning starter on the back end of the defense.
Saturday presents the best opportunity to see how those names and more perform in front of a full crowd and on a big stage before the season opener Sept. 3 against Bowling Green.
Weekend forecasts put the temperature for Saturday afternoon in Columbus in the upper 60s, with the sun shining and rain nowhere in sight. As of a week ago, more than 55,000 tickets were already sold. Roughly 10,000 more were gone as of Tuesday, according to Dave Briggs of the Toledo Blade.
Over 55k tickets SOLD with less than 2 weeks left! Lets get to 99k!
— Tyler Jones (@trayj08) April 5, 2016
April 16 In #TheShoe #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/k2ReZoCYr6
Ohio State spokesman says school has sold 65,709 tickets for Saturday's spring game. National-record crowd of 100,000-plus in play.
— Dave Briggs (@DBriggsBlade) April 12, 2016
A program spokesman posted a press release Monday afternoon on Ohio State's athletics site describing the goal it has for Saturday, a six-figure attendance number. It reiterated Meyer's feelings on his young team and the need for it to be tested in front of numerous sets of eyes.
Meyer used his final opportunity in front of local reporters Monday to share the appeal for fans to shell out the $5 for a ticket and bring their families to fill the stadium with noise.
In his mind, the young blood on his team needs it more than ever before in what is now his fifth year in command of Ohio State football. Meyer said he and his staff have discussed making the annual event a practice instead of a game like some programs have done in the hope of avoiding injury, but he doesn't see it as fair to those who come and watch. Not making it a game would cause it to lose it's value.
"I have (had those talks), but for us No. 1 the fans," Meyer said. "Sometimes you get caught in those situations, if it was 22,000 then yeah have a practice because it doesn't matter. In that stadium, you put 12,000 people in there, of course, just scrap the scrimmage because it doesn't matter."
Saturday matters for many reasons, according to Meyer.
"What's the difference between out there?" Meyer asked the media as he pointed to the wall behind him at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, beyond which sits the indoor practice field. "There's nothing like performing in front of 100,000 people. For me to watch that, I watch that."
