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27th Aug 2014 from TwitLonger
#BuckeyeNation, Col Dispatch's Keys to the season 4 #OhioState #Buckeyes football. #GoBucks
The weeks and days leading up to college football season always are filled with questions. And even before the Ohio State football team lost Braxton Miller to injury, a number of answers were being sought.
With the Buckeyes preparing for Navy, Dispatch beat writers Tim May and Bill Rabinowitz take a look at the hot-button issues surrounding Urban Meyer's team this season.
Key offensive player
Rabinowitz: This is an easy one — J.T. Barrett. It’s a tough spot for a guy who has never taken a college snap and hasn’t played in 22 months since suffering a torn ACL. But Barrett is viewed as a calm, poised, quiet leader. At first, his primary task will be to manage games and not make mistakes. As he (presumably) gains confidence, the playbook will gradually expand. The Buckeyes should have enough talent around him to ease Barrett’s transition. But he has to at least make the easy throws and avoid the big mistake.
May: Dontre Wilson (and Jalin Marshall). For the Urban Meyer-Tom Herman offense to operate near its optimum, it needs a hybrid back that is a running and pass-catching threat. Wilson was in learning mode last year on the receiving side, and Marshall was injured. The hybrid is the X-factor in the offense, but not if it fails to be established as a consistent threat.
Key defensive player
May: Linebacker Joshua Perry, who has shifted to the weakside position vacated by Ryan Shazier. The position remains the tone-setter, even in the new defensive approach ushered in by co-defensive coordinator Chris Ash. Perry came on near the end of last season. This year, he needs to make plays from the start and lead a relatively inexperienced back seven.
Rabinowitz: Adolphus Washington. The Buckeyes expect their line to rank among the best in the country. Michael Bennett, Joey Bosa and Noah Spence have already shown they can be impact players. Washington remains more potential than production. He battled a groin injury last year while making the transition from end to tackle. If the junior can become a force, then the line could truly become dominant.
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Key early game
Rabinowitz: Navy. First games are always tricky — there’s no preseason in college football, after all. The Navy game was always going to be a challenge because the Midshipmen run a triple-option offense that would require the defense to play a different style than what it is used to. But Ohio State thought it might overcome the need for in-game adjustments on defense with an offense that figured to have its way. But with a new quarterback at the helm, that’s not a given anymore. Navy gave the Buckeyes a huge scare five years ago. It wouldn’t be a shock if this one is tense for a while.
May: Virginia Tech in prime time on Sept. 6. Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster will come to town with a game plan designed to pressure the four new starters on the OSU offensive line and, of course, the redshirt-freshman quarterback Barrett. The Hokies have offensive challenges of their own, but if they can push it to the fourth quarter with the outcome in doubt, look out.
New to view
May: Freshman running back Curtis Samuel. He enrolled early from Brooklyn, N.Y., and was thought to be untested in terms of big-time competition. But he has taken on all comers through spring drills and preseason camp, and has sprinted away from a lot of them. Ezekiel Elliott is the new starter, but you’ve seen him before. Samuel is a potential big-play reliever.
>> Ohio State football chat with Tim May, 1 p.m. Thursday, dispatch.com/osuchat
Rabinowitz: Raekwon McMillan. The freshman middle linebacker from Georgia hasn’t been able to unseat senior Curtis Grant, but it’s only a matter of time before he sees the field. He is the highest-ranked linebacker the Buckeyes have recruited under Meyer, and he has impressed with his maturity. He already looks the part. At the very least, he figures to contribute on special teams.
Best offseason move
Rabinowitz: Bringing in Chris Ash. It was obvious that the Buckeyes’ pass defense was broken at the end of last year, both in spirit and scheme. Ash has instilled a new, aggressive scheme that players have embraced. The staff chemistry with incumbent coordinator Luke Fickell could have been an issue, but all parties say that the transition has gone smoothly. Hopefully, they can say that once the season starts.
May: Actually, it’s the best offseason silver lining. With Miller held out of spring drills following his February shoulder surgery, and held out of most preseason camp drills as precaution, Barrett and Cardale Jones took significant snaps with the first team. As it turned out, they were being groomed to take Miller’s place as if he had decided in January to leave for the NFL.
The pressure is on ...
May: Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Herman. He had a fourth-year starting quarterback returning — the two-time reigning Silver Football award winner of the Big Ten — and then he didn’t. This was supposed to be the gravy year that comes with that kind of experience. Instead, Herman and his staff must pivot totally to what Barrett is most comfortable with at the moment, while also bringing along four new starters on the line and all of those new skill players.
>> Predict Ohio State-Navy, plus other top games
Rabinowitz: Offensive line coach Ed Warinner. Two years ago, he took over an unproven line and coaxed it into a machine. Now he has to do that again. Taylor Decker is the only returning starter, and he’s at a different position — left tackle. The Buckeyes feel good with Pat Elflein at right guard, and they have their fingers crossed that the other spots can be filled adequately. The good news is that they have plenty of bodies. Settling on the right five will be the trick.
Stat that must change
Rabinowitz: 110. That’s where the Buckeyes ranked last season in passing yards allowed, out of 123 major-college teams. That number has to improve dramatically, and the Buckeyes are confident that they have the players, coaching and scheme for that to happen. Still, it bears reminding that Ohio State will have three new starters in the secondary and at least one among the linebackers.
May: In the past three games combined, the Buckeyes were outscored 40-13 in the fourth quarter, holding off Michigan in the regular-season finale before losing the Big Ten title game to Michigan State and the Orange Bowl to Clemson. Simply put, they didn’t finish after putting together a school-record 24-game win streak.
A year to remember — if ...
May: Barrett and the offense put the loss of Miller behind them and find a groove quickly. The defense obviously has to better against the pass, but confidence abounds among the players that it will be. A wide-open offense utilizing and ushering the fastest weapons in the Meyer era will be key.
Rabinowitz: They overcome the loss of Miller to reach the first College Football Playoff. That berth, which looked realistic before Miller’s injury, now seems like a long shot. But the schedule is hardly overwhelming. The Buckeyes should be favored in every game except Nov. 8 in East Lansing.
Bottom line
Rabinowitz: The Buckeyes have many questions to answer, but they believe they have the pieces for a successful season. Meyer has built a football culture designed to handle adversity, and now we’ll find out how strong it is. Teams have overcome the loss of a star quarterback and gone on to glory. It will be interesting to watch whether the Buckeyes can.
May: There are indeed some questions that need answers, but there also is a regular-season schedule that features just one opponent — Michigan State — in the top 25 of the Associated Press preseason poll. With or without Miller, the tipping point of this season always was going to come Nov. at Michigan State, in what promises to be the battle for supremacy in the new East Division of the Big Ten.
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By: @brdispatch & @TIM_MAYsports
August 27, 2014
Source: Columbus Dispatch
Link: http://buckeyextra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2014/08/27/2014-col-fb-preview/0827-osu-keys-to-the-season.html