Comparing the Production of Ohio State's Wide Receivers in the Urban Meyer Era to Those at Indiana Under Kevin Wilson

There is at least one thing Kevin Wilson's Indiana football teams had that Urban Meyer's Ohio State ones have not yet achieved: A 1,000-yard performer at wide receiver.

The Buckeye that came closest to that number in Meyer's first five seasons was Devin Smith, who racked up 931 yards during the 15-game 2014 national championship season. Arguably the best deep threat to make his way through the program, Smith reached that total on just 33 receptions. The staggering 28.2 yards per catch average easily led the country.

In his six seasons in Bloomington, Wilson's offense yielded a 1,000-yard receiver twice: first in 2013 when Cody Latimer caught 72 passes for 1,096 yards and two seasons ago when Simmie Cobbs Jr. reeled in 60 balls for 1,035 yards. This past season, Nick Westbrook came extremely close to pushing his receiving total to four digits: he led the Hoosiers with 995 yards on 54 receptions.

Meyer and Wilson's offenses are not the same but operate under similar spread principles. Ohio State focuses more on the power running game, using a mobile quarterback on the ground as an advantage while operating behind a running back that blocks well. When Wilson coached Indiana, he didn't rely as heavily on the quarterback run to move the sticks on the ground. His plan used more finesse at running back and a zone-blocking scheme.

Both programs essentially threw the ball the same amount, at least in relevance to the score of the game. For example, teams often throw it more if they are trailing. Indiana trailed in more games under Wilson than Ohio State has under Meyer.

So as we continue to dive into what the 2017 version of Meyer's offense will look like at Ohio State, it is prudent to peek back at how Wilson used his wide receivers. We do that below, hoping to show that Wilson's offenses used more with less at the position. Each player listed is a wide receiver unless otherwise noted. Only players that finished with at least 100 yards receiving each season are included.

2011

Indiana Record: 1-11, 0-8 Big Ten
*Note: This season is included to illustrate the talent Wilson inherited in his first season. We did not show Ohio State's 2011 receiving totals because Luke Fickell was the head coach, not Meyer.

2012

Indiana Record: 4-8, 2-6 Big Ten

Ohio State Record: 12-0, 8-0 Big Ten

 Ohio State also had four players catch a touchdown pass in 2012 that are not listed: tight end Jeff Heuerman, receiver Chris Fields and running backs Rod Smith and Carlos Hyde.

2013

Indiana Record: 5-7, 3-5 Big Ten

Ohio State Record: 12-2, 8-0 Big Ten, Lost to Clemson 40-35 in Orange Bowl

2014

Indiana Record: 4-8, 1-7 Big Ten

Ohio State Record: 14-1, 8-0 Big Ten, Beat Alabama 42-35 and Oregon 42-20 to win College Football Playoff National Championship

2015

Indiana Record: 6-7, 2-6 Big Ten, Lost to Duke 44-41 in Pinstripe Bowl

Ohio State Record: 12-1, Beat Notre Dame 44-28 in Fiesta Bowl

2016

Indiana Record: 6-7, 4-5 Big Ten, Lost to Utah 26-24 in Foster Farms Bowl (Wilson did not coach bowl)

On one hand, the tables above are simply a bunch of names and numbers. But on the other, it is evident that Wilson — fairly consistently — has gotten more production out of his wide receivers than Meyer. There are plenty of factors that play into why.

Specifically, in 2014 and 2015 workhorse running back Ezekiel Elliott demanded carries and represented the type of back Meyer adores to use in his offense. Wilson ran the ball more too when he had a similar talent — the numbers of Indiana's wide receivers in 2014 were easily the worst in his tenure other than his first year on the job. Current NFL running back Tevin Coleman ran for more than 2,000 yards that season. That affected the passing numbers.

Wilson's use of tempo on offense helps get more plays — read: opportunities — for his receivers to make plays on the outside. The strength of each team's defense must also be taken into account. That side of the ball has been terrific for Ohio State the last three seasons. It was never anything to write home about for Wilson at Indiana.

When teams can't stop anybody, they have to try and win games by scoring as many points as possible. That usually translated into passing more for Wilson with quarterbacks Nate Sudfeld and most recently, Richard Lagow.

Yes, Meyer loves to establish a dominant running game so he can set up the play action downfield pass. He demands offensive balance and always says the goal is 250 yards passing and 250 yards rushing. The Buckeyes got away from that the last two seasons, which resulted in the change of the offensive staff and hiring of Wilson in addition to new quarterbacks coach Ryan Day.

The back-and-forth at quarterback in 2015 didn't help Ohio State's passing game, either. Meyer alternated Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett well into October before settling on the latter. Then Barrett got arrested and cited for OVI on Halloween and was subsequently suspended for a game. The end result was the best rookie receiver in the NFL this season (Michael Thomas) being criminally underused and not even catching 60 passes in 13 games.

The potential for what Wilson can do with more talent understandably excites the Ohio State fanbase. His highest-rated recruit at wide receiver during his stint at Indiana was 4-star Shane Wynn from Cleveland. The Buckeyes routinely pull in 4-star receivers and signed three tall, fast and long players at the position in 2017 (Trevon Grimes, Jaylen Harris and Elijah Harris).

Ohio State's passing game desperately needed a facelift. Wilson's arrival and some better performance from Zach Smith's unit should yield better production in the passing game from the wide receivers. That is how it looks on paper, anyway.