Urban Meyer became a college football fixture in part thanks to a spread offense that struck terror into defensive coordinators across the country.
At Florida, the place where Ohio State’s head coach became a rock star, such outfits ranked near the top of most statistical categories, helped him win a pair of national titles and made Meyer one of the biggest names out there and the Gators among the biggest shows.
He was supposed to have the similar success with the Buckeyes, and the spread was going to be the backbone.
It's interesting, then, how Meyer’s 26-3 in Columbus with so little of it dealing with the specific brand of offense that made him famous in Gainesville.
After all, the system didn’t make sense when Meyer first assumed the reigns of the program in 2012. He inherited a roster of talent and skillsets he didn’t recruit.
Meyer described Year One at Ohio State as a one-man show starring quarterback Braxton Miller.
“The identity was clear two years ago, and it was Braxton Miller right, Braxton Miller left,” Meyer said, “because that was kind of our best player.”
That kind of reliance on one player couldn’t last forever, but the Buckeyes got by and averaged 37 points and 424 yards en route to a 12-0 season.
Miller was an important cog in Year Two, but the offense revolved around Carlos Hyde and an offensive line some regard as one of the best in school history.
“Last year we developed this big tailback and a really good offensive line, so that identity was started,” he said. Ohio State broke a bevy of school records, averaged 46 points and 512 yards and finished 12-2.
But Hyde and all but one member of the offensive line are in the NFL or elsewhere.
So what about now?
“I think we have a lot of speed and you can tell we're trying to get guys in open space to see what they can do because you've got Jalin Marshall — who's a very talented guy — (and) Dontre Wilson. I could go down the list, but we're still trying to get our hands on exactly who's going to touch that ball.”
Ohio State insists it has options: Wilson, Marshall, wide receivers Michael Thomas, Corey Smith, Devin Smith, Evan Spencer, tight ends Jeff Heuerman and Nick Vannett and running backs Curtis Samuel and Ezekiel Elliott. That’s a lot of names. Maybe even too many.
Before Miller suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in August, he figured to be the most integral cog on an offense speckled with new and mostly unproven faces. Without him, the Buckeyes don’t have a go-to player or a go-to play yet. And it probably won’t happen soon. These things take time.
It seems doubtful that Ohio State will make redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett the focal point of its offense. The running backs are still battling for who gets the most touches. The wide receivers don’t have a guy that can take over a game — though Michael Thomas has played well in games against Virginia Tech and Kent State. Heuerman has been limited with a lingering foot injury.
On paper, the Buckeyes look like they’ve got the talent — and maybe more importantly, the depth — to start running the type of spread offense Meyer vowed to bring to Ohio State.
But it will have to overcome general youthfulness and inexperience to burgeon in Year Three.
