Ohio State Football: Realistic Expectations for Urban Meyer and Buckeyes in 2012

Urban Meyer and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Man, that just sounds good, doesn't it?

One of the premier coaches in the nation at one of the premier programs in the nation, something that as of right now (sorry, Brady Hoke), no other Big Ten team can claim. So time to start ordering 2013 Big Ten Championship rings, yes?

Well, not entirely; Meyer's got some work to do still.

Remember, Ohio State did go 6-7 last season, and while some of that can be attributed to the upheaval surrounding the program, Urban Meyer didn't exactly keep every single coach around for his own transition a year later. So that upheaval? Still an issue.

Let's run down some realistic expectations for the 2012 season.

Get Braxton Miller Ready on Day 1

You can forgive Ohio State for not having Braxton Miller in veteran form on his first start; he was a true freshman last year and looked to be at best the Buckeyes' third-best option at QB for 2011 behind Terrelle Pryor and Joe Bauserman when he was inked (note: not a tattoo reference).

Miller had to adjust to a brand-new offense in the meantime, with a brand-new QB coach to boot. And this year, he's got... a brand-new QB coach and an offense that's probably materially different in some major respects. This is our concern, Dude.

But that's not to say that Miller's going to be in the same position that he was a year ago. For one, having the year of experience against live competition is immeasurably beneficial, and the game's just going to be easier for him from here on out.

Second, there's a difference between coaching offensive schemes and coaching mechanics, so in terms of being a more effective passer, he's on better footing than before.

But at the end of the day, assuming Urban Meyer doesn't go about 80 percent run, like Luke Fickell did with Miller at QB, Miller's going to be pressed into some tough throwing decisions, and it's up to new QB coach Tom Herman to get Miller as prepared as possible for those decisions.

Give Up Fewer Than 20 Points a Game

Ohio State went 6-7 last year, but it's important to note that six of those seven losses were one-possession games. Granted, Ohio State didn't have the ball with the one-possession deficit at the end of the game in all of them—the 10-7 loss to Michigan State was the result of a last-minute Buckeyes touchdown and a failed onside kick, for example—but the Buckeyes were hardly uncompetitive.

The defense gave up 21 points a game in 2011, and while cutting off a point a game may not sound like much of a hurdle to clear, what we're really talking about is giving up about a dozen fewer points over the course of the year.

That's going to probably mean two fewer touchdowns, and when six of your losses are by a touchdown or less, shaving off two TDs somewhere over the course of a season can be enormously consequential.

Of course, Ohio State isn't replaying the 2011 season with 2011 players everywhere—2012 is a different season entirely. But with an offense that really must improve, cutting down on the points allowed even just a little bit is probably going to pay huge dividends in the W/L column.

Ruin as Many Teams' Seasons as Possible

Urban Meyer can learn a lot from Lane Kiffin (you all just closed the browser window already right there, didn't you? Come back!) in that Kiffin did a masterful job getting his USC Trojans ready to play every single week, even without the prospect of postseason play.

In Pac-12 play, the Trojans wrote the book on how to hang a ton of points on Stanford before losing on a freak play in triple overtime, knocked Oregon out of the national championship picture with a 38-35 victory, then sent UCLA to the Pac-12 championship with a 50-0 drubbing that was so lopsided, it got Rick Neuheisel fired the week before he was playing for a Rose Bowl berth.

Ohio State has similar opportunities.

The Buckeyes have conference games against the three top teams in the Leaders Division (at Michigan State, Nebraska and Michigan), not to mention dates at Penn State and Wisconsin. OSU won't win all five of these games, in all likelihood, but the wins the Buckeyes do get will be major blows to their victims' respective division title hopes.

And yes, with OSU-Michigan being not only the Buckeyes' season finale but at the 'Shoe, there will be just a little bit of motivation to get up for that one. OSU won't get the Legends Division title, but first place should still be a realistic goal.