Ohio State coach Urban Meyer reacts as the Buckeyes’ game Sept. 19 vs. Northern Illinois becomes close.(Photo: Joseph Maiorana, USA TODAY Sports) So maybe Ohio State’s return to the College Football Playoff won’t be as smooth as everyone assumed it would be with 15 starters returning from last year’s title-winning team. The Buckeyes are still the best team in the country — according to the computers, at least — but this is clearly not the dominant force it was expected to be before the season. The defense has lived up to the hype in the early going, but an offense that was projected by at least one expert to score 60 points a game has been sluggish to start the season. The unit, which finished ninth nationally in total offense and returned all but three starters, ranks 75th in the nation in yards per game. Ohio State’s offensive problems are not what it returned, but rather what it lost. And that’s its biggest deep threat in Devin Smith. The big-play wide receiver was an integral piece to the team’s championship puzzle, and Urban Meyer has not been able to find an adequate replacement so far in 2015. “They have not performed well,” Meyer said of Ohio State’s receivers on Tuesday on the Big Ten coaches teleconference. “Mike Thomas has played pretty well. But we’ve got to play much better. …
Continue Reading: No. 1 Ohio State is determined to fix what ails its offense
