Buckeyes Preparing For Familiar Setting

As the confetti fell on Urban Meyer and the newly crowned national champions, he was asked about the performance of Cardale Jones and Ezekiel Elliott. He quickly added the defense into that discussion. After all, as the season progressed, that unit had become one of the finest in the country.

In 2013 it was the Ohio State defense that faltered all year long, especially down the stretch. In the Big Ten championship loss to Michigan State, they were gashed time and time again. The Orange Bowl performance was the culmination of a season’s worth of ineptitude as Clemson embarrassed them for almost 600 yards of total offense.

Questions were abound in 2014 about whether or not the unit could get back to a level worthy of the

Silver Bullet name. Chris Ash was brought in to completely reshape the look of the secondary. There was plenty of talent to work with, but would it come together?

It didn’t happen immediately, but by season’s end, it most certainly did. Guys like Darron Lee, Vonn Bell, and Eli Apple all made the leap into stardom. Together, with veterans like Curtis Grant elevating their play, the defense was every bit the catalyst for the national title run.

Fast forward to 2016 and the Buckeyes will again be breaking in a ton of new starters. Unlike 2014, though, these new starters will be tasked with maintaining the high level of play that the ones before them have made an expectation.

Raekwon McMillan is back and will be the unquestioned leader of the defense. He should continue to be among the best linebackers in the country, giving Luke Fickell a solid place to start as he retools the Silver Bullets.

Gareon Conley also returns after becoming a starter in 2015. He is going to be expected to make a leap similar to what soon-to-be first round pick Eli Apple did from 2014 to 2015, becoming a lock down corner.

Sam Hubbard and Tyquan Lewis should form a formidable pass rushing presence off of the edge, but the interior of the defensive line remains a question mark.

To add to the uncertainty surround the Ohio State defense in 2016, Chris Ash left to take the head coaching job at Rutgers. In comes former Rutgers head coach, and former NFL head coach, Greg Schiano. While he isn’t facing the complete rebuild of schemes that Ash faced, he will have a significant amount of roster decisions in front of him.

Next: The Schedule