Mike Weber used a fairly telling word Thursday when he was asked about Ohio State’s offense from the 2016 season.
“Last year, I kind of felt we was a little predictable when it came to our play-calling,” the Buckeyes starting running back said after practice.
Ohio State fans would likely agree with that assessment.
The Buckeyes led the Big Ten in total offense (459.2 yards per game) and were second in scoring offense (39.4 points per game), but against top competition — mainly Penn State, Michigan and Clemson — seemed to sputter. The result was a significant offensive staff changeup at season's end that saw Ed Warinner and Tim Beck move on elsewhere and Urban Meyer hired Kevin Wilson and Ryan Day as replacements.
Wilson, of course, was the former head coach at Indiana known for his high-octane offenses. The Hoosiers racked up a ton of yards and scored plenty of points throughout Wilson’s six-year tenure and they turned into a team Meyer admitted recently he never wanted to play.
Ohio State is seven practices into spring ball following Tuesday’s workout and Weber said he’s already seeing results similar to what was discussed prior to spring.
“Yeah, I have actually,” he said. “This year, it’s more creative. It’s different. It’s what defenses haven’t seen from us and that’s what I’m excited about.”
The finished product won’t be on full display until the Buckeyes’ season begins on the last day of August. The annual spring game, scheduled for April 15, will likely be a tease of what’s to come. Ohio State obviously doesn’t want to expose too much if there really are massive changes.
Weber, though, seemed excited about the possibilities.
“I feel like it’s more mixed up and defenses are not going to know what to expect,” he said.
