Urban Meyer knows what he had at Ohio State as the 2014 college football season came to close is rarified air. Situations like that don't come along very often, regardless the sport.
"I think the way we finished a year ago was a perfect template," Meyer said Wednesday after practice at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. "Hard to say there was a better defense, hard to say there was a better offense and better kicking game. Everybody's working to get there."
The Buckeyes sit undefeated and atop the rankings through seven games, fixing to head east for their first-ever trip to Piscataway, New Jersey, and a visit to Rutgers.
Meyer's done this before — it's the time of the season where teams begin to separate themselves from one another. Good becomes great. Great becomes excellent. What Meyer wants, though, is even higher.
"It's typical, eighth game into the season, some teams take off and players take off and others don't," Meyer said. "The ones that do, the teams and the players that do, become exceptional. Right now, we're very good, but the next few weeks have to be exceptional."
Ohio State's head football coach spoke unprovoked about the performances former Buckeye defensive end Steve Miller put forth as 2014 came to a close. He saved the best moments of his career for the post-season wins against Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon.
“It's typical, eighth game into the season, some teams take off and players take off and others don't. The ones that do, the teams and the players that do, become exceptional. Right now, we're very good, but the next few weeks have to be exceptional.”– Urban Meyer
"Steve Miller was as good a defensive end as there was in America last year at the end of the season. Think about that," Meyer said. "Stevie Miller was one of the best defensive ends in college football. Why? Why? That's what I got our team thinking about. Why?"
Miller wasn't the only senior who upped his play down the stretch in 2014, and Meyer knows it. He cited Michael Bennett, Jeff Heuerman and Evan Spencer as others who took a leap forward in their progression, making plays that put Ohio State in position to win the biggest games of the year.
Against Penn State Saturday, the Buckeyes put forth a dominant offensive display, at least in the running game. The 38-10 victory was what Meyer called "one of the best games" his team's put forth since his arrival prior to the 2012 season. The offense was clicking, though it needs to improve in the passing game with new starter J.T. Barrett moving forward. The defense struggled to stop freshman running back Saquon Barkley, but made quarterback Christian Hackenberg's life miserable in the passing department.
"We kind of needed that win, in my opinion. I felt like we had kind of slid through this games, kind of like Florida State last year," tight end Nick Vannett said Wednesday. "I think we needed a game like that. Kind of allowed us to regroup a little bit and just understand the team that we have and keep pushing forward."
The Seminoles were defending national champions one season ago and won games in a weak ACC almost in spite of themselves. A 59-20 drubbing at the hands of Oregon in the Rose Bowl sent them back to reality.
Ohio State feels it can avoid that.
"I think the Virginia Tech game we put together a good game, then we kind of fell off a little bit after there. I think this last week was a good start to it," center Jacoby Boren said. "The defense, they've gave up a few big plays but they're playing their butts off out there. On the offense, we can do a lot of things better, but we're starting to get a little momentum there and if we can do a great job offense, defense and special teams, we can have a great year."
Meyer sees his team on the cusp of something great, it just needs to start putting all the pieces together as he heads to Rutgers Saturday night.
"Obviously the expectation level here is to be the best defense, be the best offense, best kicking game. We're not there yet. I think it's very close," Meyer said. "What's next is a complete game. A dominant performance. We haven't had that yet."
