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Ohio State Football: Could this year be similar to 2014 for the Buckeyes?

By Steven Koesterman

ARLINGTON, TX - JANUARY 12: Head Coach Urban Meyer of the Ohio State Buckeyes hoist the trophy after defeating the Oregon Ducks 42 to 20 in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game at AT
ARLINGTON, TX - JANUARY 12: Head Coach Urban Meyer of the Ohio State Buckeyes hoist the trophy after defeating the Oregon Ducks 42 to 20 in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game at AT /
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GLENDALE, AZ – JANUARY 01: Running back Ezekiel Elliott #15 of the Ohio State Buckeyes rushes the football during the first half of the BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at University of Phoenix Stadium on January 1, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. The Buckeyes defeated the Fighting Irish 44-28. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, AZ – JANUARY 01: Running back Ezekiel Elliott #15 of the Ohio State Buckeyes rushes the football during the first half of the BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at University of Phoenix Stadium on January 1, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. The Buckeyes defeated the Fighting Irish 44-28. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

After an eventful regular season filled with adversity and the highs of winning and disappointment, this Ohio State football team seems to be following in the footsteps of the historic 2014 National Championship team.

In 2014, the Buckeyes started the season ranked #5 in the AP preseason poll. Expectations were high after signing a highly ranked recruiting class including current NFL stars, Malik Hooker, Marshon Lattimore, Curtis Samuel and Sam Hubbard.

Other valuable recruits included the current Buckeyes wide receiver core; Terry McLaurin, Paris Campbell and Johnnie Dixon. Also, Coach Meyer had his senior quarterback, Braxton Miller, Ezekiel Elliott, Taylor Decker and Joey Bosa returning as experienced starters.

The 2018 Buckeyes started out the season in a similar manner including being ranked #5 in the AP preseason poll. Although being left out of the College Football Playoffs in 2017, the Buckeyes entered this season with the #2 recruiting class in the country. There was also a number of returning starters including Nick Bosa, J.K Dobbins, Dre’Mont Jones and an experienced group of wide receivers and offensive linemen.

Pre-Season Adversity

2014:

Buckeye Nation was hoping for a championship season after a disappointing loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship the previous year. Everything was rolling in the right direction until Fall camp opened. On August 19th, Ohio State announced that their Heisman candidate, Braxton Miller, would miss the entire season, after re-injuring his shoulder during camp.

2018:

Prior to the start of the regular season, the Buckeyes, specifically Coach Urban Meyer was in the national spotlight for allegedly “covering up” domestic violence allegations on Coach Zach Smith. After the firing of Zach Smith and reports by Brett McMurphy, Urban Meyer was placed on administrative leave and Ohio State named Coach Ryan Day as acting head coach.

After a thorough investigation, The Ohio State University suspended Urban Meyer for three games. Coincidently, Urban Meyer was suspended on August 22,, 2018; almost exactly 4 years after Ohio State announced the news about Braxton Miller with a season ending injury

Now for more similarities.

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