Ohio State Has Bigger Issues Than Ezekiel Elliott Distraction
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Urban Meyer's most impressive job as a head coach in the 2015 season has had nothing to do with his handling of his team's complicated quarterback conundrum or preparing for one of Ohio State's tougher opponents on its schedule.
In fact, following the Buckeyes' 17-14 loss to a Connor Cook-less Michigan State on Saturday, one could argue that Meyer has fallen short when it's come to both.
But when backed into a corner and put into a no-win situation by star running back Ezekiel Elliott, who blasted the coaching staff's play-calling following this past weekend's defeat, Meyer somehow found his way out.
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Without either punishing or seemingly putting one player above the team, the fourth-year Buckeyes head coach moved on from the situation on Monday with his level-headed explanation of Elliott's outburst.
"Zeke has always been [an] extremely loyal person, a great competitor," Meyer said at his weekly press conference. "We do not condone that and encourage that. Our rule is always talk about your teammates and move on. And he came to see me. We had a very long discussion—he's great—and he apologized...we squashed it as a team. We squashed it with Zeke.
"Zeke has been a good student student, very loyal, incredible football player. Most selfless player—one of the most selfless players I've ever coached and been around."
Elliott also took to Twitter on Monday morning to issue a public apology and explanation of his own.
But while Meyer and his team may claim to have put an admitted distraction—Elliott's comments led multiple national television and sports radio shows on Monday—behind them, glaring issues still loom for this Ohio State team.
Now at 10-1 on the season and no longer in control of its fate in the races for the Big Ten title or College Football Playoff, the Buckeyes head to Ann Arbor with a sense of uncertainty hanging over their program—some of which was alluded to in Elliott's well-publicized criticism.
Particularly when it comes to Ohio State's play-calling, which resulted in just 12 carries for Elliott, who entered the weekend as the nation's third-leading rusher.
While he didn't agree with the forum in which it came, Meyer said he didn't dispute the content of his star player's message, revealing that he would be taking a more active role in the Buckeyes' play-selection process moving forward.
"I couldn't disagree with him—his comments that he should have got the ball a little bit more," Meyer said. "[In] hindsight, feed him. He has a way of making yards."
It's one thing to adjust your strategy with one game left in the regular season.
But to overhaul your play-calling process, something Ohio State already did earlier this season when Meyer shifted more responsibility from offensive coordinator Ed Warinner to co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tim Beck, suggests a larger issue that exists when it comes to the Buckeyes offense following the offseason departure of former offensive coordinator Tom Herman, now the head coach at Houston.
If Meyer's newfound reluctance to delegate proves ineffective—or only harms the Ohio State offense further—it could make for a long day in Ann Arbor, with Michigan currently laying claim to the nation's second-ranked defense.
And even if Meyer's increased presence in the Buckeyes' huddle proves to be a positive, it may not be enough.
Especially considering the apparent deflated nature of both Meyer and the Ohio State players on Monday, following what was the Buckeyes' first loss in 24 games.
With such a long winning streak snapped—and so much taken out of Ohio State's control in the process—it's natural for there to be a sense of a letdown, as evidenced by both players and coaches referring to enduring "sleepless nights" in the past couple of days.
At the same time, it's also natural to ask whether that disappointment will carry over to Saturday, with such a short time between games against formidable foes.
The stock answer for the Buckeyes players has been that the rivalry with Michigan is motivation enough to move on from last weekend's defeat. "We'll go out tomorrow ready to roll in practice and ready to start a new game plan and really put in the work for this week," Ohio State linebacker Joshua Perry said.
But the Buckeyes' body language tells another story, as do additional comments Elliott made on Saturday.
Defiantly declaring for the draft following his criticisms of the play-calling, the true junior made it clear that there's "no chance" that he'll be returning to Columbus in 2016.
In addition to defensive end Joey Bosa and backup quarterback Cardale Jones, that makes three Ohio State players who have already revealed that they're leaning toward entering next spring's draft, with one game still remaining in the regular season.
Meyer admitted on Monday that players looking ahead to the pros could be a distraction but didn't feel that was currently the case in Columbus.
"The names you just mentioned are wonderful, loyal kids to this program, have done probably about—you know, there's some great historians of this program that could tell you more, but I can't imagine those names that you just mentioned have done much more," Meyer answered when asked about Elliott, Bosa and Jones' intentions. "I got to make sure we're doing this so we can get the laser lights [focus] that's on our preparation."
Whether or not the Buckeyes will do just that this weekend against a Wolverines team with plenty on the line as well remains to be seen. But even with Meyer having seemingly escaped the cloud of Elliott's comments, distractions still persist and even he knows there's only one way they will dissipate.
"If we find a way to win this game, I imagine we won't be talking about this much longer," Meyer said.
That line of thinking, however, works both ways. Because if Ohio State loses for the second time in as many games this weekend, there will be no shortage of topics to talk about when it comes to the Buckeyes.
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.
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