For Mike Weber, the first few practices with new offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson must feel like a recurring birthday from his childhood. Those times when Mom and Dad asked their child what they wanted to do on their special day, the child answered with something outrageous, then his or her parents took the necessary steps to make it happen.
Weber is in his second set of spring practices in Columbus, not far removed from posting just the third 1,000-yard rushing season by a freshman in Ohio State history. He is slated to enter his third season of college football, a player Tony Alford, his position coach, said has "grown up" and a guy who claims he is prime for even more in 2017.
“We've been really good on offense with a lot of individual players but it's the ability of the offense to collectively bring it all together. That's what we're going to try to do.”– Kevin Wilson
Which is why Wilson's arrival has Weber smiling halfway through spring practice.
“He put in a few plays that I’ve been asking for [since] last year,” Weber said on Thursday. “He brought them in to the table and I kind of appreciate the plays he brought in.”
What plays, exactly? Other than the prime focus resting on the deep passing game with J.T. Barrett, Weber said he, Wilson and the other running backs set a few goals as they get to know one another this spring. For more details, let's turn to Demario McCall.
“We're more tempo this spring. Got new plays, lot more screens coming in,” the sophomore said. “Last year we didn't have that many screens, lot of screens this spring.”
The word tempo has floated around the Ohio State world ever since the Buckeyes announced they hired Wilson in January. His Indiana teams thrived on that during his six-year tenure and as McCall said, he integrated screens to a multitude of skill players to move the chains and score points.
Urban Meyer said he won't necessarily look at the quantity of plays as his indicator if Wilson is doing his job this fall. He wants a rhythm, an edge, a creativity.
“When we were at Florida we weren’t a big tempo team so I wanted to have someone with that experience because I personally do not,” Meyer said on March 7. “It’s got to be just calling plays, practicing plays and calling plays, getting to the line of scrimmage much faster. That’s one of [Wilson's] strengths.”
Ohio State went far away from that last season. Getting to the line of scrimmage quickly and using the tree trunks Ezekiel Elliott has for legs allowed the Buckeyes to smash their way to the national championship in 2014. He teamed up with J.T. Barrett to rip through Michigan and Notre Dame to close out the 2015 campaign as well — the duo combined for 598 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on 99 carries in those two games.
Weber isn't Elliott. No one is Elliott but Elliott. But it was clear how disjointed things were on offense at times a year ago and often the running game suffered. Weber amassed 1,096 rushing yards in 2016 but carried the ball 23 times fewer than Barrett over the course of the season.
The only other time an Ohio State quarterback had the most rushing attempts on the team under Meyer? In 2012, when the offense's necessary simplicity resulted in Braxton Miller left, Braxton Miller right, Braxton Miller up the middle.
The thought is Wilson and new quarterbacks coach Ryan Day will help Ohio State change that and provide more chances for running backs and other skill positions.
“We've been really good on offense with a lot of individual players but it's the ability of the offense to collectively bring it all together,” Wilson said recently. “That's what we're going to try to do.”
“If we play faster, there's going to be more plays. If there's more plays, there's more opportunities,” Alford added Thursday. “So if you look at it in that vein then yeah, I guess it would change. Because there are more opportunities because we have more plays going on.”
Alford doesn't think Wilson will necessarily ask the running backs to do anything majorly different within the offense, but McCall's mention of the screen passes could prove otherwise. In any event, the running backs must be willing pass blockers, hard runners, protect the football and also provide an outlet for Barrett through the air should he need it.
“We're going to do what we do and just play really fast and really perfect our trade,” Alford said. “That's the biggest thing with guys like Mike. Hey, 'We know you know. You've done it before. Now it's perfecting it. Challenge yourself on every small little detail that's going on.'”
Any player that started for the duration of the season prior will be asked to perfect their craft as Alford is of Weber. That is how Ohio State keeps its winning train moving.
Bringing in top minds like Wilson in an effort to "refresh things," like Meyer said in February on National Signing Day, helps too. That way, the offense won't be predictable and running backs like Weber stay happy.
“This year, it’s more creative. It’s different,” he said. “It’s what defenses haven’t seen from us and that’s what I’m excited about.”
