1. Running up the score?
The Falcons won the Mid-American Conference title last season and have played in three consecutive MAC championship games. Yet the Buckeyes posted a school-record 776 yards total offense, topping the previous mark of 718 against Mount Union in 1930. It was the most points scored and yards gained by an Urban Meyer-coached team. Those looking for Meyer to apologize for running up the score may not be satisfied. “Sometimes I hate when I see that score; that’s not what our intent was,” Meyer said. “We do like to score a lot of points. I think in the middle of the third quarter [6:30 left] we took the offensive line and everybody out.” First-year Bowling Green coach Mike Jinks called the outcome a “butt-whooping” and said it would be hard to find positives. “We made about every mistake that you could possibly make, so there’s only one way to go and that’s up,” Jinks said.
2. Has Meyer finally found his Percy Harvin?
Meyer has been searching for a Buckeye who fit the mold of Harvin, the Florida receiver who helped the Gators win BCS championships in 2006 and 2008. In three years at Florida, Harvin totaled 32 touchdowns — 13 receiving, 19 rushing — and 3,781 total yards. Meyer may have found him in junior 5-foot-11, 197-pound running back/H-back Curtis Samuel. Samuel rushed 13 times for 84 yards and a 12-yard TD and caught nine passes for 177 yards and touchdowns of 79 and 21 yards. “He’s the first true hybrid I’ve had in awhile here,” Meyer said. “He’s big enough.” Meyer said he hoped to get Samuel 15 touches and he finished with 22, some from the wildcat quarterback formation.
3. Will the Buckeyes miss Ezekiel Elliott?
Probably yes, because Elliott could run, catch and block. But redshirt freshman Mike Weber, 5-10 and 212 pounds, looks like the next in a long line of outstanding Buckeye tailbacks. Weber carried the ball 19 times for 136 yards (7.2 average) and was not dropped for a loss. His longest run was 18 yards. “A couple of runs I’d like to see him pull through,” Meyer said. “The kid that played for us last year [Elliott], I can’t remember his name, probably would have pulled through a couple more. But [Weber] is still young. We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.” If Meyer and offensive coordinator Ed Warinner are looking for a thunder and lightening tandem, Weber and Samuel seem ready to fill the bill.
4. Ed Warinner has found his home.
For the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator, that’s in the press box. Since he moved upstairs after OSU’s national title-killing home loss to Michigan State last season, the Buckeyes have beaten Michigan, Notre Dame and Bowling Green. The offense also moves at a faster pace since Warinner left his duties coaching offensive linemen on the sideline. “First time in the ’Shoe to coach in the box,” Warinner said. “It allows us on offense to play faster because I don’t have to get information relayed to me — I can see it and go. It was fun to watch the playmakers from up above and see things open up.”
5. A record day on offense.
Meyer has stressed being balanced between run and pass this season. Warinner also wants the Buckeyes to be unpredictable and play to the strengths of their personnel. He could see it coming in practices and scrimmages. But no one may have envisioned the Buckeyes exploding for a school-record 776 yards in the opener. Asked what went into that, Warinner said, “About eight months of hard work from Jan. 2 until Sept. 3 thinking about that every day. Focusing in on how to do it in steps. We started in January focusing on how we wanted to do this. Coach [Meyer] talked to me on the airplane on the back from the Fiesta Bowl. We had momentum in the last two games of last year, [and] we wanted to carry that through the offseason and build on that this year. He’s the architect of it. A lot of really good coaches and really talented players really worked hard.”
— Marla Ridenour