Gator Bowl 2012: Urban Meyer Has Work Cut out for Him at Ohio State Next Season

Special teams play cost the Ohio State Buckeyes a Gator Bowl win against the Florida Gators on Monday, and it's one of several areas new head coach Urban Meyer needs to address in Columbus next season.

The loss to the Gators dropped the Buckeyes to 6-7, their first losing season since 1986.

At Florida, Meyer did well to recruit players who not only played their offensive or defensive roles well, but many of them could excel at special teams.

Often an overlooked part of the game, special teams are so crucial to a team's chance of being successful.

Meyer also needs to work on the Buckeyes passing attack, which ranked 117th in the country. Ohio State averaged only 124 passing yards per game this season, which is awful for a program of their caliber.

The Buckeyes haven't been a prolific passing team throughout their history, but passing the ball effectively on a consistent basis is a must if you want to become a BCS title contender.

Not being able to pass the ball well hurt the Buckeyes' ability to score points. They were 75th in the nation this season with a 25.1 points per game average.

In a Big Ten conference that includes a lot of teams that can put up 25-30 points on any Saturday, you have to be able to score consistently to win games.

Meyer is a fantastic recruiter, and despite the Buckeyes being hit with a bowl ban for the upcoming college football season by the NCAA, he will be able to convince the nation's best high school players to come to Columbus.

He has his work cut out for him, but there's no glaring weaknesses to big for Meyer to correct and lead Ohio State back to a BCS championship game appearance in the near future.