Because I am a huge Ohio State football fan

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Buckeyes primed for big run
ZAC JACKSON | Published: Monday, May 27, 2013, 11:59am | 14 Comments

Andrew Weber-US Presswire
UNDEFEATED
Urban Meyer is 12-0 as Ohio State's head coach. Take a look at each of his victories as a Buckeye.

ACTION BRAXTON
Braxton Miller enters 2013 with a lot of Heisman hype. Take a look at his career.It was early in the morning on Memorial Day 2011 when Jim Tressel met with his Ohio State players one final time and the university announced in a carefully worded release that the coach had resigned.


Two years later, it seems the program has recovered nicely.


It would be both premature and inaccurate to say that the state of the Ohio State program is as good as it's ever been now, 18 months into Urban Meyer's tenure as Ohio State's head coach. Tressel won and won big in his 10 years on the job, and Ohio State was a prominent player in both the Big Ten and nationally long before Tressel.


It would not be a stretch, though, to examine what Meyer has cleaned up and implemented, the state of the Big Ten, the state of the Buckeyes roster and Meyer's 365-day recruiting machine and think that Ohio State is positioned for very big things ahead and possibly an unprecedented run of winning, even by the high standards previous teams set.


It's been a heck of a two-year recovery.


There have been bumps, and there will be more. Probably, anyway. But a bowl-banned team with multiple flaws and its first-year coaching staff went 12-0 last season, summoning magic on several occasions to stay unbeaten but creating plenty of momentum for the future in the process. The 2013 Buckeyes have leadership voids to fill and questions to answer but should be favored to win their first 11 games (at least), most of them comfortably.


Braxton Miller almost certainly has two seasons left as the quarterback, and Meyer isn't afraid to say that Miller is just beginning to harness his talents. Meyer isn't afraid to challenge any player or demand excellence from all of them, and the vision he's selling externally and pushing internally will seem more realistic with each win. Building towards being -- and remaining -- elite is a lot easier with an elite quarterback in place.


The 2013 Buckeyes open with Buffalo, San Diego State, Cal and Florida A&M, and three of those games are at home. Michigan State and Nebraska are off the Big Ten schedule; Northwestern and Iowa are on. The wins are going to keep getting stacked.




Expecting to go undefeated can be a dangerous thing. With the talent on hand, though, the Buckeyes should be able to clean up some of Meyer's biggest areas of concern heading into this season and keep things on an upward trajectory into the Big Ten season and the future. Miller got hit too much last year, but there's a chance a better grasp on the offense and the talent around him will allow him to better pick his spots and take fewer chances.


The passing game is coming along -- Meyer called it "a clown show" 13 months ago -- and still has a ways to go but should benefit from a running game that's much more than just Miller. On defense, the secondary returns talent and experience and though the front seven lost much leadership and experience, there are players. There are potentially big-time players everywhere across the depth chart and two Meyer recruiting classes have delivered even more gifted players who haven't yet cracked the two-deep, including some who have yet to officially enroll in classes.


These freshmen have a chance to be very, very special.


Going 18 months (and counting) on the job without losing a game hasn't hurt Meyer and his staff's recruiting efforts for 2014 and beyond. The Buckeyes already have nine commitments for next year's class, a mixture of top in-state prospects at need positions and top guys nationally at prime positions.


Ohio State is positioned to be very, very good for a long time.


Just watching an Ohio State practice now is a very different experience than it was in 2011. These Buckeyes are bigger, stronger, faster and pushed to operate at an entirely new tempo. Sometime in early August, they'll officially start chasing what they couldn't over the last two seasons for various reasons and begin the path towards bigger goals, an official return to life (in the regular season, anyway) as the hunted and not the hunter. Winning big, recruiting with and against anyone nationally and being expected to be a top-five team can bring a whole new set of issues and challenges, but Meyer has been there before. And he'd probably classify most of them as good problems to have.


These Buckeyes probably aren't ready to win the national championship this season; Meyer himself would probably say that, at least today. But there's reason to believe they'll play themselves into the discussion, and as a four-team playoff for the national title begins in the 2014 season, the program could and probably should be in a spot where reaching it could be the expectation more than the goal.


Stay tuned. A program that's had plenty of past success could be sitting on the verge of its best run yet.

I do love collage football

I like the college games too but I have a few pet peeves... WAY too many bowl games and I don't like how the championship goes down. Can't wait for them to adopt an 8 team playoff or something similar.

They start a 4 team system .... either this year or next. I just dont recall when exactly.

Just watch... they'll pump it up to 8 after a couple of years and stop raising it when they get to 64.


January madness!!!

I'm kidding of course, but 16 would be doable... max of 4 games to win it all.

I would be happy with an 8 Team playoff system. The 4 team system is better then what we currently have though.