Ohio State Football: What Bye-Week Adjustments Do the Buckeyes Need to Make?

COLUMBUS, Ohio — In each of his first two seasons at Ohio State, neither of Urban Meyer's bye weeks with the Buckeyes landed until November. And with his teams' weeks off not coming until the final quarter of the season, the OSU head coach had just one matter on his mind each time: health.

It also didn't hurt that in each of the Buckeyes' previous two bye weeks, Ohio State was still unbeaten and on the cusp of perfect regular seasons. Little had to change for the Buckeyes from a game-planning standpoint, as Meyer used the late weeks off to get the likes of Braxton Miller, John Simon and Carlos Hyde back to full strength.

But 2014 has dealt Meyer and Ohio State a different hand, with the Buckeyes receiving their first of two bye weeks on the year in just the fourth week of the season. And with a 2-1 record, Ohio State, and its relatively healthy roster, has taken a new approach into this week's bye, as it looks to build on the momentum that it gained in its 66-0 win over Kent State last weekend.

"We're going to practice hard this week," Meyer said on Saturday. "A lot of what you do in a bye week is dependent on what kind of team you have. But our guys need repetitions."

With those repetitions are sure to come adjustments for a Buckeyes team that has been inconsistent at best through its first fourth of the regular season. With a pivotal game against Cincinnati looming, Ohio State's development over the next week will be crucial and could play a key role in defining the remainder of its 2014 season.

With that in mind, here's a look at the adjustments that the Buckeyes will attempt to make during their earlier-than-usual bye this week.

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Use the Youth

With its game against the Golden Flashes out of hand before the start of the second quarter, Ohio State used its most recent outing as an opportunity to burn some redshirts and get several true freshmen the first playing time of their careers.

Outside of Curtis Samuel, Sean Nuernberger, Raekwon McMillan and Erick Smith—all of whom had already made their OSU debuts—Jalyn Holmes, Damon Webb, Johnnie Dixon, Noah Brown, Dante Booker, Jamarco Jones and Marcelys Jones each received their first playing time as Buckeyes in the team's blowout victory.

Add in the number of redshirt freshmen and true sophomores that Ohio State had already been counting on, and there was no shortage of youth to be found on the field for the Buckeyes last Saturday. That's not something that will change moving forward, either, as the makeup of Ohio State's roster has dictated this year's team to be an inexperienced one.

"I'm really excited about our young skill," Meyer said after the Kent State game. "I am trying to get our players as many reps as possible by the time we get to the Big Ten season, and this was a great opportunity for that."

The same can be said for the bye week, which will provide ample opportunities for the Buckeye youngsters to continue to get their feet wet. Perhaps no player will be more important in that process than McMillan, who saw a plethora of playing time at middle linebacker last Saturday in place of Curtis Grant.

A former 5-star prospect, McMillan made the most of his time too, recording a team-high seven tackles and two sacks against the Golden Flashes. After playing just sparingly and on special teams in Ohio State's first two games of the season, the Hinesville, Georgia, native certainly lived up to the hype in what was the most significant playing time of his young career.

"Coach Meyer’s philosophy, he always says to be ready when your number is called,” McMillan said after the game. “So, mental reps, even when you’re not in practice or even when you’re not in games, are important."

But with his impressive outing last week, look for McMillan's mental reps to decrease as the Ohio State staff adds more actual reps to his workload. The same could be said Samuel, Holmes, Dixon and Jamarco Jones, all of whom could find themselves playing significant roles for the Buckeyes by season's end.

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Form a Front Five

Of all of the Ohio State offense's inefficiencies thus far this season, many can be traced back to its ineffective offensive line, which is still in the process of replacing four multiyear starters from a season ago.

With three games under their belt, the Buckeyes appear to have settled on a starting five for the unit, with Taylor Decker, Pat Elflein, Jacoby Boren, Billy Price and Darryl Baldwin taking the majority of the significant snaps for Ohio State this season.

But setting a starting five and being comfortable with it are two different stories. Which is why, while the Buckeyes were quick to put in most of their second-teamers against the Golden Flashes, they stuck with several starting offensive linemen, as Meyer is well aware of how important experience will be to their development.

"Even players that are considered starters here, there are just so many guys out there from the Billy Price's to the Darryl Baldwin's, just want to get them a lot of reps," Meyer said. "We did that today."

That trend will continue through the bye, which will give Ohio State two more full weeks of practice to continue to develop its line before its battle with the Bearcats. In between the Buckeyes' loss to Virginia Tech and dismantling of Kent State, Price saw positive momentum across his unit, which he expects to continue throughout the bye and beyond.

"We have to get better as a whole. From last week to this week, I feel that we got better," Price said. "We're a lot more in sync."

How much more in sync will the Ohio State offensive line look with two more weeks of practice under its belt? We're about to find out.

Jay LaPrete/Associated Press

Grin And Barrett

When Braxton Miller went down for the season with a torn labrum two weeks before the season opener, the Buckeyes' national title hopes took an understandable hit. And while we'll never know whether or not Ohio State would have defeated the Hokies in Week 2 with the reigning two-time MVP in the lineup, quarterback J.T. Barrett has played admirably in his absence.

So much so, in fact, that in the first three weeks of his college career, the redshirt freshman signal-caller has earned two Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards and is the current reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week.

After a shaky showing against Virginia Tech, Barrett bounced back in the Buckeyes' blowout win over Kent State, tying a school record with six touchdown passes and becoming the first OSU quarterback to throw for 300 yards in a single game since Troy Smith in 2006.

And while the Buckeyes offense may have a significantly lower ceiling with Barrett behind center instead of Miller, Ohio State appears to finally be finding an offensive identity with its new starting quarterback. Against the Golden Flashes, eight Buckeyes caught balls by the end of the first quarter, and five tallied receiving touchdowns by the end of the game, indicative of a pass-happy approach that plays to Barrett's strengths as a "distributor."

"At this point, I think we have a lot of speed, and you can tell we're trying to get guys in open space to see what they can do," Meyer said on Saturday. "We're still, once again, figuring out exactly how we're going to be moving the ball as an offense once we start getting to the Big Ten season."

Albeit against an undermanned opponent, last Saturday appeared to be a big step in that process for the Buckeyes. Gone were the quarterback runs that Miller excelled with for two seasons under Meyer, replaced with swing passes out of the backfield and shorter passes to a work-in-progress wide receiving corps.

With two weeks to prepare for Cincinnati, look for Meyer and his staff to only expand their Barrett-centric playbook, in order to continue to better feature his ability moving forward.

With three games—and three conference honors—now on his resume, the first-year quarterback is only just now getting comfortable and could make a big leap between now and Ohio State's upcoming Buckeye State showdown.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Ohio State Lead Writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.