COLUMBUS, Ohio — The theory that Urban Meyer —
either by magic wand or piercing whistle — really is in total command of all
things Ohio State football was tested Saturday morning when an
uncharacteristically warm Ohio spring turned into rain and temperatures below
50 for Ohio State's spring game.
The weather probably kept the crowd from reaching 100,000. Try as he might have
wanted to, Meyer couldn't move the clouds or turn up the heat. He can't
control, fix or dominate everything here.
Yet.
He's most certainly the boss, though, and his first spring game was the first
true public display of what Ohio State football is on its way to becoming.
The Scarlet team offense commanded by gifted, but raw sophomore quarterback
Braxton Miller came out with three wide receivers, never thought about huddling
and marched down the field on the first drive for a quick score. The
short-handed defenses forced some turnovers, made a few memorable hits and was
the stronger position group, as it should be at this time of year. Its
performance earned a grade somewhere in the range of just OK.
"I expect our defense to get real close to Ohio State standards real
soon," Meyer said, a not-so-subtle hint that such standards are as high as
they've ever been.
The weather kept the spring game crowd to an announced, but exaggerated 81,112.
The concept of spring football — splitting the roster, caution coming first
when it comes to playing time, reps for patchwork units — lends itself to
ugly, and there were moments that it was very ugly. The final score was 20-14,
not that it really matters or will be remembered past this week.
Meyer's first spring as the coach at the only place he swears he'd have wanted
to return to coaching is in the books. He saw progress. He says he has a better
idea of "issues and ... our strengths." He's been quick to boost
players whose work ethics and attitudes he loves, and quick to push buttons,
publicly and privately, of players not meeting his expectations.
All of those players will get Saturday night off, maybe Sunday, too, and then
they'll hear Meyer in their sleep. He wants his players to get back in the
weight room, back to testing their bodies and back to preparing for an all-out,
us-against-the-world season when he's officially allowed to coach them again in
August.
"It has to be the best offseason in the history of college football,"
Meyer said. "It has to happen. And it starts Monday."
Meyer craves a challenge. He's big on tradition and discipline and constant
competition, too, but the biggest reason he's back coaching is the challenge it
brings him and the opportunity it gives him to challenge his players.
You've heard his strength coach makes $380,000 a year for what he puts the
players through during 6 a.m. workouts, right? Meyer makes what he makes — and
is who he is — because he has championship visions and standards to match. He
knows how to play to the masses, but he really loves the individual battles,
and certainly not just the ones that happen over 60 football minutes on a
Saturday afternoon.
He started the spring game by calling the entire team to midfield for some old
fashioned bull in the ring, one player in scarlet lined up against one player
in white. Meyer was in the middle, waving his arms like a mad man trying to
fire the crowd up. In the last matchup, he pitted his top two quarterbacks,
Kenny Guiton and Miller, facemask to facemask, and at the whistle Guiton, the
backup, used a wrestling move to take the starter down.
The players went crazy. Fans had their official "everything's changed
here" moment. Meyer had put every player on his roster on alert. Kickers
next year, maybe?
Meyer might be nuts. Buckeye fans love it, whether he is or isn't.
"You've got to be very careful and very smart," Meyer said. "Sometimes
I'm accused of (being) neither. It was fun for the fans and our players came
out of their shoes when we did that. It was fun."
He spent much of the spring saying the offensive line was his greatest concern,
then last week he praised the line as probably the team's most improved group
of the spring. Saturday, he revealed that multiple offensive linemen missed his
first meeting, then some were late to another, and Meyer's response was to
change those meetings to 5 a.m.
"I'm proud to say we don't miss meetings anymore," Meyer said.
"Their attitudes are changing. Their bodies are changing."
Everything has changed at Ohio State, forever — and we're still 150 some days
from the real season opener. The new coach has brought more than just new
energy, and right now he's riding plenty of momentum.
There's work to do. There won't be a bowl game this season thanks to NCAA
sanctions, but in the big picture that's a minor stumbling block. Meyer is
about bigger challenges, which is why he's consumed with the smaller ones that
involve commitment, focus and attention to detail. It's why he wanted the
spring game to be pass-heavy, why he named a top five playmakers list of spring
football, why he praised freshman receiver Michael Thomas and his 12
spring-game catches by basically saying Thomas is outworking the other
receivers right now when no one is watching.
Truth is, all of college football is watching Ohio State again and Meyer is the
unquestioned star of the show. Next year, even if it's snowing, the spring game
crowd will be over 100,000 — and all 100,000 will come hoping Meyer is
steering their team towards a national title.
That, by the way, is the exact challenge the new coach is really looking
forward to. Right now, he's barely stepping on the gas.
