Ohio State gets to test its 16 new starters in a tuneup game against the in-state Mid-American Conference opponent that won its conference previous year. MI just signed the No. 4-rated class in February.
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The Buckeyes produced seven captains for a relatively inexperienced team. “I think he’s our No. 1 player on offense right now”, coach Urban Meyer said.
Both sides of the ball are going to look vastly different than past year. The Falcons return four starters on offense, all along the offensive line, and six starters on defense.
Ohio State: H-back Curtis Samuel. A year ago the Buckeyes had 2 things that held them back from repeating as champions, the weighted expectations and the turmoil at quarterback. The Buckeyes will rely heavily on guys like Corey Smith and Noah Brown, and maybe even some freshmen like K.J. Hill and Austin Mack, to get the job done. They chose Joe Burger, Billy Price, Gareon Conley and Tyquan Lewis. The Buckeyes must replace 16 starters with a roster that includes 44 true or redshirt freshmen scholarship players and just four recruited seniors.
But Bowling Green’s program was not in such a good place when Meyer arrived. He’s played in 34 games over the past three years and has a grand total of three tackles. “That just gave me more of a passion for the game, the drive to get back to where I was at and to cherish every moment”. After the somewhat disappointing 2015 season (i.e. the Michigan State game), I’m excited to see what the 2016 version of the Buckeyes brings.
“I guess those people (in the PR department) don’t like me”, Barrett joked. “In 2001, I took the job at Bowling Green”. I think that’s the direction we’re headed.
“He’s on top of his game, I’m proud to say”, Meyer said.
“You go back and see what they’ve done in their past”, Meyer said. He’s mature, knows the game, and it’s not his first rodeo. Mistakes will be made. Maybe no coach deserves an nearly blind benefit of the doubt and maybe the Buckeyes – very much vincible to the same forces of attrition that would wallop any other program not named Alabama – go 8-4.
Meyer was 17-6 in two seasons at Bowling Green before being hired at Utah. It could be the best of times – or the worst of times for the Buckeyes in year five of the Urban Meyer era. And I’m very biased and everybody knows that. But, I’m going with home team advantage as my tie-breaker, likely deciding the East Division. “It’s nearly like thinking slowed me down. Tyler Durbin?” to football sports information director Jerry Emig at one point during his discussion of the Buckeyes’ kicking game. I mean, he can do great things at wide receiver, he can do great things with the ball in his hand from the running back position. Coming off a national title in the first year of the playoff, the Buckeyes basked in the warmth of the championship and despite the pressure they put on themselves – and felt from the Buckeyes faithful – they almost pulled off a repeat. Already, Meyer found Nick more advanced than his big brother, Joey, was at the same age.
■ The schedule: Ohio State could take a couple early shots. On preparing for the unknown in the season opener “Well, you go from where the coordinator has been”.
“I’m hard-pressed to think of anything better than to go into another team’s stadium to compete against their team and their fans”, Harbaugh said, “and if you can throw in the elements – the cold, the rain, some snow – that’s the ultimate”.
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Stanford – Three big games early against USC, UCLA, and Washington will tell the tale on the Cardinal. They lost 12 players in April’s NFL Draft, 11 of which were selected among the first 102 picks. Henry is off to the National Football League, so Watson will resume his battle against McCaffrey for the trophy. “But I felt like toward the end of camp, I started to feel like myself again”.
