Ohio State Football: What to Expect from the Buckeyes in 2012

The Ohio State Buckeyes are easily one of the best teams in the Big Ten and possibly across the entirety of college football. Unfortunately, even if this elite young squad goes undefeated, they will be bowl ineligible due to NCAA sanctions levied against the program earlier this year.

That certainly won’t get the Buckeyes down, as they will look to dominate the opposition and get the media talking about how they are the rightful national champions.

Let’s take a look at what we should be expecting from the offense and defense this season, as well as a prediction on how Ohio State will finish.

Offense

Braxton Miller will be the focal point of this team. He’s a sophomore QB that has some experience as a starter after being handed the reins of the team last year.

Miller should make huge strides as a passer in 2012, as he mostly relied on his scrambles to make plays in his first season.

Devin Smith and Corey Brown are the top two receivers right now and should form a decent tandem, while Carlos Hyde is expected to start at RB until Jordan Hall returns from injury.

The team will have a few games to fine tune the offense before the Big Ten schedule starts, beginning with a relatively tough contest against Miami of Ohio on Sept. 1.

Defense

OSU didn’t lose too many players to the NFL draft in 2012 and is returning a number of starters.

Luke Fickell, the interim head coach last year, has been tasked by current coach Urban Meyer to run the defense and get the most out of a group that was mediocre at best last year.

Senior DE John Simon will be the leader of this defense, but a few young guys should be in line to step up as well.

They have a deep secondary that should have no problem dominating opposing wide receivers in the conference, although the safeties have to hope the front seven can contain the powerful rushers that the school will be facing this season.

Prediction

The Buckeyes will run the table up until Saturday, Nov. 17. They face the Wisconsin Badgers in Camp Randall, and they aren’t going to come out of there unscathed.

Expect Meyer’s team to finish 11-1 this season, which will give them plenty of momentum heading into 2013, when they can actually compete for a championship.