The Ohio State Buckeyes were expected to contend for a national championship, but that seems to have changed with the news from Monday night that Braxton Miller will be out for the entirety of the season. Ohio State lost its best player at football’s most significant roster spot, so head coach Urban Meyer and his staff will really have to scramble to see how they can adjust and play this season the way they want to. It’s going to be very interesting to see how the Buckeyes handle this crisis.
Strengths
The Buckeyes have fast running backs and wide receivers. Urban Meyer recruits speed, and he recruits nationally, plucking prime prospects on the perimeter throughout his roster. Ohio State doesn’t suffer deficiencies in terms of speed. This offense has a lot of pieces in place that can support the fill-in quarterback, whoever that quarterback ultimately turns out to be (it will probably be J.T. Barrett). The Buckeyes were expected to contend for the national title not just because of Miller, but because they had a lot of depth at the non-quarterback positions and could fill in for Carlos Hyde, their star running back last season, who is now collecting an NFL paycheck. Ohio State will still be a good running team, and a defense that struggled last season should be able to learn from its mistakes, growing more into its roles.
Weaknesses
The loss of Miller just can’t be overstated. Miller is coming off a pair of seasons in 2012 and 2013 in which he threw for over 2,000 yards and ran for over 1,000 yards. Miller personally accounted for 28 touchdowns in 2012 and 36 in 2013. His passing-running touchdown splits were 15-13 in 2012 and 24-12 in 2013. Miller was able to make more big plays with his arm last season, and that’s where he was expected to develop to a higher plateau in 2014. Is J.T. Barrett or any other Ohio State quarterback ready to pass the ball and provide a complement to the Buckeyes’ vaunted running game? This team will have to come up with a solution, and it’s not likely that it fully will. This team can get by against Rutgers and other inferior teams, but can it get by against Michigan State and Minnesota?
Schedule
The Buckeyes, without Braxton Miller, now have to think that their opening game against Navy is a little more difficult than it previously seemed to be. There are no longer any guarantees in that game for the Buckeyes. Week two against Virginia Tech, a team with a really good defense, could pose a lot of problems for Ohio State’s offense, which is now a shell of what it had been. After games against Kent State and Cincinnati, the Big Ten schedule will arrive. Games at Maryland, Penn State, and Minnesota will be tricky. The game at Michigan State seems very, very hard to win without a player of Miller’s caliber.
Outlook
The Buckeyes will still be a good team, but can they be a great team now that they’ve lost their most important player at their most important position? Ohio State won’t beat Michigan State, and although a lot of the other games don’t jump out as games in which the Buckeyes are likely to fall, the lack of Miller in the lineup probably suggests that the team will slip up at some point. The under is certainly the much better bet than the over at the number it currently inhabits (10.5).
Pick: Under 10.5 at EVEN
