Ohio State won a title, now comes Urban Meyer’s real blueprint

Ohio State’s season kept steering toward a quiet conclusion, repeatedly stripped of reason for optimism. Lost was senior Braxton Miller, the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year whose injury inserted a redshirt freshman at quarterback. Lost was the Buckeyes’ first game before conference play even began, to 12-point underdog Virginia Tech at home to drop to 22nd in the national rankings. By the time belief in reaching the College Football Playoff had been revived, Ohio State lost another Heisman candidate quarterback — J.T. Barrett — to injury and was forced to start the postseason with a quarterback — Cardale Jones — with zero career starts. Even as the improbable season stretched to the national semifinals, coach Urban Meyer was drawn to a future he envisioned more spectacular. “I thought it was a year away,” Meyer said before the fourth-seeded Buckeyes shocked Alabama. After the upset of Oregon in the national championship, he said, “This team wasn’t supposed to do this.” After a season spent defying expectations, Ohio State is now the first team ever selected the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation in the preseason AP Poll. The Buckeyes bring back 14 starters, with multiple future first-round picks on both sides of the ball — including Heisman favorite running back Ezekiel Elliott and defensive end Joey Bosa. Cardale Jones (right) and Braxton Miller during Ohio State’s media day.Photo: AP And outside of the season opener at Virginia Tech and a home game against Michigan State, the path to a second straight playoff appearance looks paved with practice dummies. The title defense began on the Columbus campus this summer, fighting the sense of accomplishment for something which doesn’t matter anymore and battling the sense of entitlement which doesn’t exist, carrying a weight only Atlas could understand. …

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