College Football Preview: Ohio State

Ohio State

12-0 in 2012 (8-0 in the Big 10)                                    No postseason play because they are cheaters

Full Disclosure: I think the Big 10 sucks. That is all.

2012 Recap:

Quick, name the only team in major college football that didn’t lose a single game in 2012. Ok, so that one is pretty easy. Ohio State players got rings after finishing the season undefeated, but I don’t think anyone really thinks they were the best team in the country in 2012. The Buckeyes beat no teams ranked in the Top 15 in 2012, and took overtime to Purdue and Wisconsin, two teams that were not very good. They did beat Michigan by 5 points in Columbus. (Bama beat Michigan by 27 on a neutral field, but why compare apples to apples?)

The Schedule:

For anyone who hates the SEC and would like to bash the way the SEC schedules their non-conference games, I would say look at Ohio State and shut the heck up. The Buckeyes start their season with Buffalo, San Diego State, Cal, and Florida A&M. If any of those games are close then Ohio State isn’t the second best team in the country like the preseason polls would have you believe.

Wisconsin comes to Columbus in 2013, but the Buckeyes do face the daunting road test of traveling to Northwestern on October 5^th in an ABC primetime game. Appointment television. Ohio State also has to travel to Penn State and Michigan in games that the media will hype, but no one born in the last 30 years will watch unless they are being paid to do so.

Key Returner:

Quarterback Braxton Miller. Ohio State had 5085 yards of offense in 2012. Miller directly accounted for 3310 of those yards. That is 65% of Ohio State’s offense coming from a single player. I would say that is pretty key. Miller through for 15 touchdowns and ran for another 13. The question facing the Buckeyes in 2013 is whether or not Miller can improve as a pocket passer. Having a quarterback with the ability to run for over 1200 yards is great, but having a quarterback that has to run for over 1200 yards for you to win is not great. How long can he survive if he is running all over the field week after week?

Key Loss:

Ok, this is going to be a little iffy. The biggest thing Ohio State lost from their 2012 team is the fact that they are no longer on probation. Last year’s team knew from day one of training camp that nothing they did mattered, because they were ineligible for any type of postseason play. They weren’t going to win their division, their conference, or the national title. It’s like shooting free throws in practice as opposed to in a real game. Ohio State is ranked number 2 in the preseason. They will be favored in every game they play this year. They are expected to play for the National Title, and they have exactly no room for error. One loss takes them out of title contention because they play in the Big 10 which has 12 teams for now and is about to expand to 14. If they can run the table, they will be feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders when they play Michigan this year, as opposed to last year, when they had nothing in the world to lose.

Success Will Be:

Winning the National Championship. Urban Meyer won two national titles at Florida and had an undefeated team at Utah. Ohio State brought Meyer to Columbus to win National Titles, not Big 10 titles. Winning the Big 10 and getting beat by an SEC team in the National Title game would be the worst nightmare of Buckeye fans. They brought in an SEC coach so they could compete nationally again. The bar is set as high as it can be set for Ohio State, which means the only place to go is down.

2013 Prediction:

I just don’t believe in this team. Miller is good, but he is overrated because so much of the national media wants the Big 10 to be a legitimate threat to the SEC they hype him up. He would pedestrian in almost any other conference. I think Ohio State loses a game somewhere along the way. They will probably win the Big 10, which has as much prestige in my mind as being the tallest midget in a room. Even if they manage to run the table and get into the National Title game ahead of a team that they could never beat, they will get destroyed by either an SEC team or an actual good team (Clemson, Oregon, Stanford, Louisville, etc. etc. etc.)