Ohio State Football: 3 Things Standing in the Way of a Big Ten Championship

Since he was hired in late November 2011, Urban Meyer has been absolutely dominant at the helm of Ohio State.

The Buckeyes' head man has gone an incredible 50-4 since the start of the 2012 season. He's signed the Big Ten's best recruiting class in each of the last five cycles, including four top-five finishes nationally, according to 247Sports. He laid waste to college football heavyweights Alabama and Oregon on his way to winning the first-ever College Football Playoff.

Oh, and he's also a perfect 4-0 against That Team Up North.

But despite everything he's accomplished in Columbus over the last four-and-a-half years, he's only won the Big Ten Championship once—during the Buckeyes' magical run to the national title in 2014.

The stars aligned against Ohio State in 2012. It incurred a postseason ban as a result of the tattoo-for-memorabilia scandal that rocked the program in 2011. A year later, on the heels of a school-record 24-game win streak, the Buckeyes were upset by Michigan State in the 2013 conference title game.

And of course, last year's team was supposed to be Meyer's most dominant in Columbus, but Ohio State again fell short against the Spartans—this time at home in late November—which kept them from making another trip to Indianapolis. 

With spring practice over and summer conditioning and fall camp on the horizon, the focus has shifted toward another conference title run in 2016. But the Buckeyes have some significant hurdles between them and another trip to the Big Ten Championship Game, and Meyer is working hard to get his team through the grind and to the finish line this December.

The Youth Movement

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Ohio State had one of the most loaded and experienced rosters in the country last year, but with 16 starters gone (eight on each side of the ball), the Buckeyes are trying to reload instead of rebuild for another title run.

That process looked on track during Ohio State's spring game last Saturday, when a number of new faces shined in front of a spring-game-record crowd of 100,189.

Running back Mike Weber seems poised for big things this fall after showcasing nice vision, toughness and two goal-line touchdowns.

The wide receiver unit is still waiting for veterans Noah Brown and Corey Smith to return from broken legs, but young guns Torrance Gibson (a redshirt freshman who hauled in two touchdown receptions in the spring game) and Austin Mack (the true freshman who was the breakout star of the offseason) could provide some much-needed playmaking ability. 

Defensively, there were a host of underclassmen who made a great first impression. Defensive linemen Davon Hamilton, Dre'Mont Jones, Jashon Cornell and Robert Landers all wreaked havoc in the backfield and disrupted the flow of the opposing offense.

Linebacker Jerome Baker made the play of the game when he pulled in a ridiculous one-handed interception that halted a red-zone opportunity. 

And in the secondary, safety Malik Hooker looks like the Buckeyes' next superstar safety after picking off J.T. Barrett twice, one of which he returned 82 yards for a touchdown.

But while there's plenty of potential and talent on the roster, those players are still unproven entities on the big stage. Ohio State is fortunate to have junior captains at pivotal positions on both sides of the ball with quarterback J.T. Barrett and middle linebacker Raekwon McMillan.

But their supporting cast is young, and the team will have to grow up quickly for a title run this fall. 

The Offensive Line

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Meyer has built his most successful teams at Ohio State on the foundation of a strong offensive line. He uses his big guys up front to establish Ohio State's identity offensively, and that's worked out well, as the offensive line has paved the way for four consecutive top-12 rushing attacks nationally, according to cfbstats.com.

That unit, which was guided by award-winning coach Ed Warinner from 2012-15, is seeing a shakeup at the top with the addition of new offensive line coach Greg Studrawa. But the group is also in a transition with the departures of tackles Taylor Decker and Chase Farris and center Jacoby Boren. 

All of that movement has Meyer concerned ahead of the 2016 season. He went into spring camp worrying about a defensive line that lost superstar end Joey Bosa and both starting tackles, but that quickly shifted to the other side of the trenches near the midway point of spring camp.

"The D-line is the area of most concern in our program," Meyer said, according to Bill Rabinowitz of the Columbus Dispatch. "I think that’s shifting a little bit to the O-line now. I’m very concerned."

Jamarco Jones has established himself as the team's new left tackle, and Isaiah Prince is firm at right tackle. Billy Price returns to his spot at left guard, and Pat Elflein, who anchored the right side at the guard position the last two years, has moved inside to play center.

The key is finding Elflein's replacement at right guard. Meyer noted the excellent play at that position and how Ohio State must maintain that excellence in 2016.

"We’re still trying to find that starting five," Meyer said, via Rabinowitz. "Whoever plays that [right guard] position, we can’t drop off. It went from (Andrew) Norwell to Marcus Hall to Billy Price to Pat Elflein. We’re not going to drop off."

Demetrius Knox came into the spring as the front-runner for the spot, but true freshman and early enrollee Michael Jordan surged ahead during spring camp.  

Whoever wins that job this fall will have to be ready to go right out of the gate, along with the rest of the offensive line, for Ohio State to establish its offensive identity early. 

The Schedule

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After having one of the easiest schedules in college football last fall, Ohio State will be challenged with one of the most difficult schedules in 2016. 

It starts with a nonconference slate that's headlined by one of the early games of the year when Ohio State hits the road for a showdown with what should be a Top Five Oklahoma team. A well-timed bye week will follow the Buckeyes' trip to Norman before starting the Big Ten's newly implemented nine-game league schedule.

Ohio State will get tuneup games against Rutgers and Indiana at home before things take a decidedly difficult turn in mid-October. Back-to-back road games against Wisconsin and Penn State, two of the most hostile environments not just in the Big Ten, but in the entire country, will be difficult for a young Ohio State team to navigate unscathed.

That's especially true since Penn State announced on Tuesday that its matchup against Ohio State will be a "White Out" game that will almost certainly take place under the lights in prime time. 

Things won't get any easier after returning home from Penn State, as the Buckeyes host feisty Northwestern and Nebraska teams. And after the last gimme game of the season on the road against Maryland, Ohio State will face its toughest (and familiar) stretch of the season.

Like in 2015, the Buckeyes will close out their regular season against Michigan State and Michigan. Except this year, Ohio State will be hitting the road to East Lansing to face the Spartans before returning home to host the Wolverines.

Meyer and the Buckeyes will be looking to avenge last year's stunning 17-14 loss to Michigan State, but it'll be tough to do so in the unfriendly confines of Spartan Stadium. A week later, the Wolverines will be looking to get even after suffering the humiliating 42-13 defeat in Ann Arbor last November. 

Needless to say, emotions and stakes will be high during the final two weeks of the regular season, and the Big Ten East Division will likely be decided during that stretch as well.