Ohio State Looking to Showcase All Kinds of Speed in 2016 Spring Game

Ohio State got an infusion of speed when head coach Urban Meyer took over the recruiting in 2012, but with preparations for the 2016 season in full swing, the Buckeyes are looking to get even faster. 

New names and faces will arrive in Columbus as Ohio State continues its quest to replace eight starters on both sides of the ball. Meyer and the Buckeyes coaching staff are struggling to establish a depth chart with all the youth and injuries, but one thing they can establish is a new pace and identity. 

That will be on display on Saturday, when the Buckeyes take the field in Ohio Stadium for the annual spring game. 

Defensive Speed

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Ohio State's defense was fast a season ago, and a number of former Buckeyes—defensive backs Tyvis Powell and Eli Apple and linebacker Darron Lee—proved that by running 4.4 40-yard dashes at the NFL combine.

But despite the departure of a number of blazers, there are many who think Ohio State's 2016 defense will be even faster than the '15 edition.

"It's fast, it's a fast defense," defensive end Tyquan Lewis said, per Tony Gerdeman of The Ozone. "It's probably the fastest defense Coach [Larry] Johnson has ever seen. It's pretty good."

Johnson, Ohio State's defensive line coach, who held the same position at Penn State from 1996-2013, has seen some fast defenses in his day. The new projected starters will have to bring a decided edge for this to be true, but that's the feeling some have for the new guys.

"Dante is a way better athlete," middle linebacker Raekwon McMillan said when comparing projected outside linebacker Dante Booker to the departed Joshua Perry, per Marvin Fong of the Plain Dealer. "When he gets on the field, he does some things y'all haven't seen yet. He's one of the fastest guys on the defense regardless of position, and he just brings that pop."

Burners such as linebackers Chris Worley and Jerome Baker and defensive backs Denzel Ward and Malik Hooker should bring more speed to an already-fast unit. 

Offensive Tempo

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Ohio State's offense is working on a different kind of speed.

After last year's offense entered the season with high expectations that it failed to meet through 10 games (which ended in a sloppy 17-14 home loss to Michigan State), the Buckeyes moved co-offensive coordinator Ed Warinner from the field to the booth and implemented an uptempo, hurry-up offense. 

The results were effective, as Ohio State torched respectable Michigan and Notre Dame defenses for an average of 43 points and 534 yards of total offense. 

The strategy worked so well that Meyer wanted to implement it for the entire 2016 season.

“The last two games, I want to say [the offense was] 80 percent tempo and it worked out really well,” Meyer said, per Tim Shoemaker of Eleven Warriors. “We’re going to do a lot more uptempo offense than we’ve done.”

Quarterback J.T. Barrett, who's at his best as a distributor, where he can make fast decisions in both the passing and running games, thrived at the helm of that kind of offense in 2014 and at the end of 2015. Now, co-offensive coordinator Tim Beck is trying to speed things up even more.

"The biggest thing right now is just getting [Barrett] to play fast, getting him to play consistent, kind of how he did toward the end of the year and how he did in '14," Beck said Thursday, per Eric Seger of Eleven Warriors. "I like what I see so far."

Buckeyes fans will get to see that progress and heightened pace for themselves this Saturday. 

David Regimbal is the lead Ohio State football writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @davidreg412.