Past Performances Are Underwhelming To Some, But Ohio State Believes It's On Cusp of Breaking Out

By Eric Seger on October 5, 2015 at 3:32 pm
Ohio State feels close to put what ails it behind it heading deeper into Big Ten play.
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When Urban Meyer watched the tape of his Ohio State's 34-27 victory at Indiana, he felt something different than he did in the film sessions of the last few weeks.

Yes, the Buckeyes survived a last ditch effort from the Hoosiers as time expired Saturday at Memorial Stadium, but Ohio State's head coach said he feels his club is near to becoming what it needs to be as the season progresses.

"I did this time," Meyer said Monday. "(I see) improvement and very efficient when you have the penalties and turnovers, that does — that's stops efficiency. So I think we're on the border of being very good."

Ohio State finished with 517 yards of offense against the Hoosiers, but struggled on third down, in the red zone and holding onto the ball. Eight penalties cost the Buckeyes 109 yards and the offense converted just 2-of-14 third down chances. Aside from Ezekiel Elliott's career day — 274 rushing yards and three touchdowns — the offense kept shooting itself in the foot with fumbles and an interception, all plays that killed momentum.

“I did this time. (I see) improvement and very efficient when you have the penalties and turnovers, that does — that's stops efficiency. So I think we're on the border of being very good.”– Urban Meyer

"We score and we chop a guy," Meyer said, referring to Braxton Miller's illegal block that negated a scoring play. "Just there's some back-break — and same on defense. We had six penalties, I think, on defense. So it's very close. I don't like to use the term great because I don't know, it's all relative to — usually I don't say great because what's that mean?"

Everyone has a different opinion of what great is regarding football success, but Ohio State's shortcomings were pushed to the brink against a previously unbeaten Hoosiers squad that would not go away quietly at home.

"They were 4-0 and they were a completely different team than they were last year," left guard Billy Price said. "But we’re going to get their best shot and we’ve been saying this week in and week out. It’s something that we have to expect the unexpected."

Fans showed their distaste toward quarterback Cardale Jones and Ohio State's team as a whole on social media during and after the game Saturday. It's still early in conference season, the main reason Price's message to the unfavorable opinions is one of recline.

"To address the criticism, I think everybody just needs to relax. We will take care of our business and that’s something that — and excuse me, but the media is the media," Price said. "Everybody has an opinion and that’s fine, but last year we were a team that wasn’t really known so to go beat a team, an undefeated team, everybody was like, ‘Oh, that’s pretty cool.’

"But this year, everybody knows the talent we have, everybody knows what we can do given our potential," he continued. "I think for us to beat an unbeaten team, that’s expected. At Ohio State, that’s what we expect here at The Ohio State and that’s what our alumni expect, that’s what our fans expect and that’s what the media expects. So for us to beat a team 34-27, that’s OK, but a victory is a victory."

Ohio State remains atop both the AP and Coaches Polls despite narrowly leaving Indiana with a victory. The attention now turns to lowly Maryland Saturday, a rare noon kickoff in the middle of homecoming weekend.

"I expect they're going to play their best football because we're the Buckeyes," safety Vonn Bell said of the Terrapins. "We're the No. 1 team in the nation, they're going to pull out all the stops against the No. 1 team."

Billy Price

That's likely, as Randy Edsall's club is unsure who will be the guy calling the signals at quarterback Saturday. Either way, when it comes to Ohio State, getting to the Big Ten Championship Game in December is still a legitimate possibility.

"I love these guys. I mean, as far as the indicators that there is an issue, that was one of the hardest we played in the last two years this past week," Meyer said. "And I didn't say we played perfect. I didn't say we played efficiently or actually smart, when you have stupid penalties and you're in a minus-3 in the turnover ratio.

"But those things are fixable. When you start getting effort and attitude and the things you just mentioned, that's where red flags start showing up and I don't feel that at all. And I've watched for that like a hawk because I've seen that infiltrate a team before."

The Buckeyes aren't playing on near the same level they were when they downed Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon to win the first-ever College Football Playoff in January. But they want you to know that's OK, and they're well aware they're not.

"Fans just have no idea what’s going on unfortunately," Price said. "It’s frustrating on our end especially when I see the tweets being thrown at Cardale. It’s not pretty, I’ve been on the receiving end of those. Just stay in your lane."

Meyer feels it, too, but remains confident he and his staff will do whatever it can to put players in the best situations to win football games.

"I think we're second in rushing, second in scoring offense right now," Meyer said. "And we still don't feel like we're doing our jobs. And that's pretty good expectations."

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