COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The reasons to write off Ohio State aren’t particularly hard to find, and the temptation to actually do it might even be understandable.
The roster looks too young. The team is perhaps a year away from contending. Too much talent must by replaced in critical spots, even with a veteran quarterback returning.
But the Buckeyes have heard those arguments against their national-title hopes before, and all they did was methodically tear them apart week after week while growing into the machine that claimed the first College Football Playoff crown.
And while previous experience dealing with those doubts certainly doesn’t ensure anything, there’s an even more ominous reason for opponents or skeptics to be careful before overlooking Urban Meyer’s team this fall. Rather than trying to temper expectations, he’s openly embracing all the similarities to 2014 -- which should be causing warning signs to go off around the country.
“I see that potential,” Meyer said. “I see it, and I think 2014 was the template that everybody wants. J.T. Barrett was buried in the depth chart, Darron Lee, Eli Apple, [Ezekiel] Elliott, [Michael] Thomas -- those guys were no-names.
“They became very good throughout the course of 2014.”
That development didn’t happen right away, of course. And the comparisons between the two rosters obviously aren’t going to be perfect, most notably because the Buckeyes are replacing a staggering 16 starters during training camp this month -- the highest total in the country.
But it’s easy to forget now just how Ohio State was perceived at the start of the championship campaign knowing how it turned out by the end.
There was uncertainty about the ground game with Carlos Hyde gone, four starters on the offensive line had to be replaced and the defense was dealing with the early departure of first-round picks Ryan Shazier and Bradley Roby. On top of that, Ohio State took a major hit when quarterback Braxton Miller was lost to a season-ending injury in August. And they were almost completely removed from the national picture when the Buckeyes were upset at home in September by Virginia Tech.
But once all those touted recruits found their footing, there was no slowing the momentum as they steamrolled to the Big Ten title and stormed through the postseason despite having to turn to another guy buried on that depth, third-string quarterback Cardale Jones. And while the Buckeyes may not be equipped to deal with a spate of injuries at the most important position on the field this season, just about everything else points to a team with more top-end potential than just about everybody in the country.
And if Barrett stays healthy, they might unleash it even earlier than the 2014 squad did since he was one of those youngsters dealing with the learning curve back then.
“I've been answering a lot of questions about a young team,” Meyer said. “The issue would be if it was a non-talented young team. And that's not the case at all.
“ ... If it gets tough and hard and they just don’t like it and turn around and look for guys like Taylor Decker and Darron Lee and Josh Perry [who are gone], we’ll be average as anything. If you see some guys step up like we did in ’14 and last year, then we have a chance to be special because athleticism is not an issue. I’m counting on about Practice No. 12 being that line of demarcation where I’ll tell you what kind of team we’re going to have.”
Meyer may have a better feel for his team by the middle of the month, but the truth is he’s not been shy about comparing this group to one that made history just two years ago from the start of spring practice all the way up until now.
The reality is the Buckeyes don’t need to look like world-beaters during training camp. They also don't need to dominate during key non-conference matchups early in the season either, which is another useful fact to keep in mind if Ohio State fails a difficult road test in Week 3 at Oklahoma next month.
Of course, there’s another possibility that might develop in September.
If the untested wideouts get comfortable with the passing game in a hurry; if Mike Weber blossoms into the next star on the tailback assembly line; if Ohio State’s recruiting classes live up to the billing and Barrett again delivers Heisman Trophy-worthy production -- these Buckeyes might just wind up topping that famed 2014 team.
It’s too early to know any of that for sure. But no matter how many reasons there might be to do it, writing off the Buckeyes has recently proven to be a pretty bad idea.
