Biggest Challenges Facing Urban Meyer and Ohio State in 2016

Urban Meyer was supposed to have one of the easiest jobs in college football last year, fueled by a loaded roster that returned seven starters on each side of the ball from a team that had just steamrolled its way to—and through—the first-ever College Football Playoff.

Ohio State entered the 2015 season as the first unanimous preseason AP No. 1 team in college football history, and no one anticipated the Buckeyes struggling with a schedule that provided few obstacles.

The pressure of living up to those enormous expectations, though, proved to be too much for Meyer and the Buckeyes, as they stumbled down the stretch against Michigan State and ultimately fell short of a second consecutive playoff berth.

With the 2016 season on the horizon, Meyer has a whole new set of hurdles ahead of him. But fortunately for the Buckeyes, none of those hurdles will be as big as the expectations that wore the team down a season ago.

Getting a Young Team Ready

The main cause for those decreased expectations is the youth movement that’s underway in Columbus.

After pasting Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day, an incredible nine underclassmen declared for the NFL draft, leaving an enormous hole in Ohio State’s depth chart. The Buckeyes had a record 10 former players selected in the first three rounds of the draft, highlighting the talent exodus that’s headed to the NFL.

Meyer was left with a team needing to replace 16 total starters—eight on each side…

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