2012 Ohio State Buckeyes

[Sportsbuck]

It's time to put last year behind us, and a new thread is necessary.

We have one of the best coaches in the country in Urban Meyer.

For the first time in a long time, we will have a legitimate offensive staff. Gone are the days of Jim Bollman, thank God.

We have immensely upgraded our S&C program with the best in the business, Micky Marotti.

We have 18-19 starters coming back, including All-American John Simon on the defensive line and Big Ten Freshman of the Year Braxton Miller at QB.

We brought in one of the nation's best recruiting classes.

The future looks very bright my friends. We may not be able to play in a bowl game this year, but we can definitely make a statement.

[buckeye02]

November 24th is our bowl game.

[He1nousOne1]

Yep, with Michigan and Ohio State both looking strong the Big Ten is having a very traditional feel to it. A true Michigan man at the helm of Michigan and a true Ohio State man at the helm of Ohio State.

It is good to see you guys getting the meaning behind the rivalry back.

[buckeye02]

I think Urban will show no mercy this year. As i said in the other thread.....I think the spring game this year will be a record attendance. Barring the weather.

What are your expectations this year, and what do you want to see happen?

[Sportsbuck]

We've got a rather easy schedule this year, and I could see anything from 8-4 to even 12-0 depending on how things shape-up.

I want to see a cohesive offensive game-plan. One designed to constrain the defense, and to put our guys in the best position to win. With Urban, I have no worries here.

I'm very excited to see how much different things are S&C wise. Our guys really wore down late in games last year, and with Marotti and his ridiculous program, we're bound to be in excellent shape. Storm Klein for one has dropped 15 pounds already, while Ryan Shazier has put on 15 of muscle.

I'm excited to see who steps up as a playmaker offensively besides Braxton and Stoney. Philly Brown has worlds of potential if he could stay healthy and hang onto the ball, and Devin Smith flashed some serious potential during his time. Bri'onte Dunn has been a star of winter conditioning and could seriously push for PT at RB right away, and we've got some talent in that stable with Hall, Hyde, and Smith back there as well.

Just beat Michigan. That's all I ask.

[lonewolf371]

Maybe I'm looking through blue-tinted glasses, but I'm not really expecting a ton from the offense this year. The two best skill players are gone, along with three offensive linemen. On top of that, Meyer's system will probably be quite different from the previous staff's even though Braxton ran the spread a lot last year. A lot of players on the team were recruited for a power offense, and Meyer has said that he doesn't yet have the speed he likes to have.

On top of that, in Meyer's first year a Bowling Green, the offense ranked 55th, and the second year it jumped up to 9th. In his first year at Utah the offense ranked 64th, and the second year it jumped up to 3rd. In his first year at Florida the offense ranked 54th, and the second year it jumped up to 10th. He's an offensive genius, but it takes a little time to learn his system and for him to get the types of play makers he likes to have.

Of course, you might say that anything would be an improvement over last year's Ohio State offense, and you'd be right. They were 104th.

[Sportsbuck]

Quote: Originally Posted by lonewolf371

Maybe I'm looking through blue-tinted glasses, but I'm not really expecting a ton from the offense this year. The two best skill players are gone, along with three offensive linemen. On top of that, Meyer's system will probably be quite different from the previous staff's even though Braxton ran the spread a lot last year. A lot of players on the team were recruited for a power offense, and Meyer has said that he doesn't yet have the speed he likes to have. On top of that, in Meyer's first year a Bowling Green, the offense ranked 55th, and the second year it jumped up to 9th. In his first year at Utah the offense ranked 64th, and the second year it jumped up to 3rd. In his first year at Florida the offense ranked 54th, and the second year it jumped up to 10th. He's an offensive genius, but it takes a little time to learn his system and for him to get the types of play makers he likes to have. Of course, you might say that anything would be an improvement over last year's Ohio State offense, and you'd be right. They were 104th.

I'm not expecting a Top 10 offense next year... but I definitely think that the offense will be solid. Jim Bollman was just dreadful as a coordinator, and with Meyer's background the offense will definitely improve. To put things into perspective on last year, several defenses said they knew every play would be on 1... Florida in particular in the bowl game. Things can only go up from there, especially bringing back 8-9 starters.

I'm not as much worried about the guys we are losing because for several of them we played a good portion of last year without. I'm not saying losing 3 3/4 year starters on the OL isn't going to be a drop-off, because it probably will be, but with their replacements getting a great deal of experience I don't expect it to be as dramatic as one would think. We have a deep running back stable to replace Boom (Hyde and Hall in particular saw extended action last year), and while no one really stepped up much last year at WR (due to the horrific nature of the passing game, and odd choices of who would play), lots of guys got experience out there.

The type of offense isn't really that big of a deal... we are still a power offense, just running it from different formations.

The speed reference was mainly referring to WR, where we only have 1 guy with elite speed (Corey Brown). Meyer is addressing that in 2013 with Jalin Marshall, Shelton Gibson, and (potentially) Robert Foster.

[lonewolf371]

Quote: Originally Posted by sportsbuck

I'm not expecting a Top 10 offense next year... but I definitely think that the offense will be solid. Jim Bollman was just dreadful as a coordinator, and with Meyer's background the offense will definitely improve. To put things into perspective on last year, several defenses said they knew every play would be on 1... Florida in particular in the bowl game. Things can only go up from there, especially bringing back 8-9 starters. I'm not as much worried about the guys we are losing because for several of them we played a good portion of last year without. I'm not saying losing 3 3/4 year starters on the OL isn't going to be a drop-off, because it probably will be, but with their replacements getting a great deal of experience I don't expect it to be as dramatic as one would think. We have a deep running back stable to replace Boom (Hyde and Hall in particular saw extended action last year), and while no one really stepped up much last year at WR (due to the horrific nature of the passing game, and odd choices of who would play), lots of guys got experience out there. The type of offense isn't really that big of a deal... we are still a power offense, just running it from different formations. The speed reference was mainly referring to WR, where we only have 1 guy with elite speed (Corey Brown). Meyer is addressing that in 2013 with Jalin Marshall, Shelton Gibson, and (potentially) Robert Foster.

Yeah, so I guess I'm saying that if the team does really take off under Meyer, I would guess that it wouldn't be until 2013. Conveniently, that could also be a year when Michigan gets gutted for a lot of their talent.