Ohio State Buckeyes 2017 Football Preview

By Urban Meyer standards, 2016 was a really bad year. In fact, it was Meyer’s worst season at Ohio State. No Big Ten championship game (thanks to a loss to Penn State), and then Zero Dark Thirty-One on New Year’s Eve. Never before had an Urban Meyer team been shut out, but Clemson did it in the Fiesta Bowl playoff semifinal.

Much of the blame for that pratfall went on the Buckeye’s offense, though credit should go to Clemson’s outstanding defense. Meyer’s response was to snag former Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson as his new offensive coordinator. Wilson left Indiana in December due to concerns about how injured players were treated. While there may be questions about Wilson’s treatment of players, there’s no question about the results Wilson gets on the field. His offenses at Oklahoma (where he was the offensive coordinator from 2002-2010) and Indiana were always potent.

Senior quarterback J.T. Barrett (6’2” 220 lbs.) returns for his final season in what has been an illustrious career. Barrett finished fifth in the Heisman balloting as a freshman and was first team all-Big Ten last season. Last season, he completed 61.5% of his passes for 2,555 yards, 24 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. He also rushed for 845 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging 4.1 yards per carry. Sophomore Joe Burrow (6’3” 215 lbs.), son of former Husker defensive back and graduate assistant Jimmy Burrow, completed 22 of 28 passes for 226 yards as a backup.

Sophomore Mike Weber (5’10” 214 lbs.) returns after rushing for 1,096 yards and nine touchdowns, earning him second team all-Big Ten honors as a freshman. Replacing All-American slotback Curtis Samuel would be difficult for most programs…but Urban Meyer simply can plug in true freshman JK Dobbins (5’10” 208 lbs.), who enrolled this spring and impressed.