Ohio State Football: 10 Things to Work on over the Summer

The excitement is at an all-time high for this Buckeye program with new head coach Urban Meyer taking over. They led every college football program in spring game attendance this season and fans have huge expectations for this team moving forward.

The Buckeyes return 16 starters from last year’s squad, including nine on the defensive side of the ball. They also have a stacked recruiting class coming in, and that will help put this team over the top talent-wise.

But with the positives come negatives, and there are questions and issues that this team must address heading into fall camp.

As we inch closer to the college football regular season, here are 10 things the Buckeyes must figure out before September arrives.

True Freshmen

Once Urban Meyer was hired to run this program, the recruiting class went through the roof for Ohio State. This fall, Ohio State will finally get a chance to see some of those talented players in action and see who's ready to contribute right away.

Running back Bri'onte Dunn is likely going to see his fair share of touches this season. Due to the lack of depth on the defensive line, players like Noah Spence, Adolphus Washington and Tommy Schutt could hit the field early as well.

There are a total of 25 recruits that will participate in the fall, it will be the coach's job to see who is ready to help contribute right away. 

Finding the Playmakers to Make Things Work

If there is one thing that makes Urban Meyer's offense work, it is the amount of speed he has on that side of the ball. Meyer loves to get the fastest guys he can find, put them in space and let everything else fall into place. Playmakers are a must in the spread offense, and Meyer has been looking for game-changing types since he stepped on campus.

Tight end Jake Stoneburner may be the most complete offensive player on this team. Wide receiver Corey Brown has game-changing speed, if he can just work on being more consistent catching the football. Receiver Devin Smith and running back Jordan Hall also have playmaking ability. 

The talent is certainly there, the players just need to step up and help make this work.

A More Consistent Pass Rush

The Buckeyes had a defense that was ranked inside the top 20 last season, but they struggled to get after the quarterback, finishing with only 23 sacks. John Simon was the only player that had more than three sacks last season, which isn't exactly anything to be proud of.

Good news is that Ohio State has a loaded recruiting class coming in, along with lineman Nathan Williams returning from knee surgery. (He led the Buckeyes in 2010 with 4.5 sacks.)

Coach Mike Vrabel has moved from linebackers coach, to help work with the defensive line this season. The Buckeyes need a more consistent pass rush if this defense will like to take that next step.

Who Will Be the Starting RB?

With last year's starting running back Dan Herron now a member of the Cincinnati Bengals, the Buckeyes are looking for a new starter in the backfield. Senior Jordan Hall looks to be the favorite heading into fall camp. (Via chillicothegazette.com)

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"We're going to play to Jordan Hall's strengths," running backs coach Stan Drayton said. "He's a guy who can be a versatile player for us. He is primarily a tailback, but we're going to put more on his plate and see how much he can handle."

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Hall is a small back at 5'9", but has big playmaking ability. The problem is that he hasn't quite fulfilled expectations over his career, rushing for a total of 814 yards in three seasons. He may be listed as the starter for now, but if he goes back to his unproductive ways, running backs such as Carlos Hyde, Bri'onte Dunn and Rod Smith could easily take some touches away from him.

Offensive Line

Ohio State was absolutely terrible last season at protecting the quarterback. The 46 sacks the Buckeyes allowed was ranked 118th in the country, meaning that only two teams were worse than they were.

In order to try and fix some of these issues, Reid Fragel has moved from tight end to play right tackle. Jack Mewhort was a guard last season, but is lining up to play left tackle. Corey Linsley was also a guard last year, but will end up likely moving to the center position to fill in for Mike Brewster.

With all of these position changes, nobody is expecting this line to become one of the top in the country overnight, but it must be a lot better than it was last season, especially if they expect to run the table this year.

Getting Healthy

Part of camp is leaving with the majority of your players healthy, there is nothing worse than players getting hurt and missing significant playing time when the season starts. The Buckeyes failed at staying healthy during the spring, as Urban Meyer admitted that 20 of his players were banged up.

While none of the injuries are serious enough to worry about, that's still 20 players that were suffering from some type of injury. If that's the case in August, several players may not be healthy enough to play when September arrives.

Answering questions about the team is what camp is all about, but if your team isn't healthy, it doesn't mean much when the regular season arrives.

Wide Receivers, Anyone?

Along with searching for playmakers on the offensive side of the ball, the Buckeyes must get better at the wide receiver position. Every receiver on the roster except for DeVier Posey returns, but not one player finished with at least 15 receptions last season.

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"The greatest receivers coach to coach the game is our head coach, so it's awesome for me," said first-year OSU receivers coach Zach Smith. "He's an expert at coaching receivers. There's move involvement, but I look at it as an asset for me, as a coach." (Via Cleveland.com)

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There are many candidates to step up at this position, but big seasons from Corey Brown, Devin Smith and Evan Spencer are expected. Players must get better at holding onto the football and helping young quarterback Braxton Miller out.

How Effective Will the Passing Game Be?

Braxton Miller played well last season, especially for a true freshman quarterback who was thrown into the fire with limited weapons on the offensive side of the ball. He showed some of his playmaking ability and threw for 13 touchdowns and rushed for over 700 yards. There's a reason Bleacher Report has him as one of the top 150 players entering the 2012 season.

And now that he has an offensive genius in Urban Meyer running the show, he should thrive in this new offense that is perfect for his skill set.

It is more of a question about when he'll take his game to the next level, not if. He still needs to work on his accuracy, but Miller is tailor-made for this system.

Adjusting to the New Offense

While the Buckeyes are still trying to figure out where their playmakers are, if they have enough to make this offense work, we do know the style this team is going to run. Urban Meyer is an offensive guru that puts players in the best position to succeed and usually scores a lot of points.

Say goodbye to that 24 points per game average Ohio State had last season. Head coach Urban Meyer says that he will run his offense a lot like the Oregon Ducks, with no-huddles and hopefully a bunch of points as well.

"All you've got to do is look at Oregon," Meyer said. "We're committed to it. We're still going to pop a huddle once in a while, but we're committed to it." (Via ESPN)

The players are extremely excited about this new style as well, but this is something that will certainly take time getting used to.

"It's very fast," quarterback Braxton Miller said. "The defense gets really tired. They're always complaining after practice, saying we need to slow it down. I'd compare it to Oregon."

Keeping This Team Motivated

Ohio State returns a very talented team, has a ridiculous recruiting class coming in and a head coach that has had success everywhere he has coached. The future is looking extremely bright for this program, but there is the fact that the Buckeyes can't participate in postseason play this year. 

Players have said that they are no longer concerned about that anymore, and have a different type of motivation in mind for this year. (Via ESPN)

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"A lot of guys were pretty disappointed, like, 'Aw, man, what are we going to be playing for?'" Stoneburner said. "But that's left a lot of guys' minds. I really don't even think about that bowl ban. We just want to win every game next year, especially the Michigan one."

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That sounds good for right now, but what if they suffer an early upset to UCF, or lose when they take a trip to East Lansing, Mich.? Staying motivated will be something that Coach Meyer will have to deal with this entire season.