2013 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

Previous season

Urban Meyer, after being hired in November 2011, quickly brought in an entirely new staff to lead the team in 2012, featuring Tom Herman and Ed Warinner as co-offensive coordinators, with Everett Withers and former interim head coach Luke Fickell as co-defensive coordinators. Meyer also began to shape the team by bringing in a top ten recruiting class. Following an offseason of transition, Ohio State began the 2012 season against Miami (Ohio) on September 1, defeating the RedHawks 56–10. Ohio State entered Big Ten Conference play with a 4–0 record and in their first conference game, would defeat the Michigan State Spartans 17–16. A 63–38 victory over Nebraska on homecoming would give Ohio State a 6–0 record and put them in the top ten in the AP Poll. Overtime victories over Purdue and Wisconsin, along with many other close victories, would give the Buckeyes an 11–0 record heading into their annual matchup with the Michigan Wolverines. The Buckeyes defeated the Wolverines 26–21 and completed their undefeated season, the first for the program since 2002. Though Ohio State was ineligible to play in any bowl game or to be ranked in the BCS or Coaches' Poll, they were still eligible for the AP National Championship. Following the season, Ohio State was ranked third in the AP Poll behind the national champion Alabama Crimson Tide and the second ranked Oregon Ducks.

Spring practice

Ohio State began their spring camp earlier than they had in previous seasons, starting it on March 5. The 2013 spring game was played on April 13 and was broadcast on the Big Ten Network. Ohio State played their spring game at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, while Ohio Stadium underwent renovations. In similar formats to previous seasons, the Buckeyes were divided up into Scarlet and Gray teams. Quarterback Braxton Miller, who played on the Scarlet team, opened up the game with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Devin Smith and with no other scoring in the first quarter, the Scarlet team took their 7–0 lead to the second quarter. Kenny Guiton, who was the starting quarterback for the Gray team, tied the game up with a touchdown pass of his own to receiver Chris Fields. A Corey Brown touchdown reception with a few seconds remaining in the first half, would give the Scarlet team the 14–7 advantage heading into halftime. The third quarter would be dominated by the Scarlet team as Braxton Miller would drive the team to the endzone, capping off the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. A Drew Basil field goal with about four minutes remaining in the quarter would give the Scarlet a 24–7 advantage. The Gray team would not score until the fourth quarter, off of a 4-yard touchdown pass from Cardale Jones to Michael Thomas. The game, scoring wise, was capped off with a Chris Field 6-yard touchdown run, with the final score being 31–14 in favor of the Scarlet team.

Quarterback Braxton Miller finished the game going 16 of 25 for a total of 217 yards and two touchdown passes, along with his touchdown run. Corey Brown led the receivers with five receptions for 25 yards and touchdown, while sophomore receiver Michael Thomas accounted for 79 yards, a touchdown and seven receptions. On defense, lineman Adolphus Washington accounted for four sacks, leading both teams. The game also featured many new players replacing starters last season, though playmakers Noah Spence and Washington on the defensive line still impressed the coaching staff. The line accounted for a total of 11 sacks during the game, with a four quarterbacks involved being sacked at some point. Though the defense, impressed, with the majority of the success coming from the passing game with both teams only accounting for 122 rushing yards collectively on 45 carries.

Fall camp

Twelve separate Ohio State players were on preseason award watch lists in sixteen different award categories. These include C.J. Barnett, Bradley Roby and Ryan Shazier for the Bednarik Award; Corey Brown and Devin Smith for the Biletnikoff Award; Christian Bryant, Roby and Shazier for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy; Shazier for the Butkus Award; Braxton Miller for the Davey O'Brien Award; Carlos Hyde for the Doak Walker Award; Barnett, Bryan and Roby for the Jim Thorpe Award; Jeff Heuerman for the Mackey Award; Hyde and Miller for the Maxwell Award; Jack Mewhort and Andrew Norwell for the Outland Trophy; Corey Linsly for the Rimington Trophy; Norwell and Shazier for the Rotary Lombardi Award; as well as Miller and Roby for the Walter Camp Award. Before the start of camp, Ohio State faced off the field issues with some players, including running back Carlos Hyde, who was suspended from the team following his arrest and involvement in an assault case against a female in Columbus, Ohio. Hyde was originally dismissed from the program when the news of the investigation first broke, however, when he was dropped as a person of interest, head coach Urban Meyer dropped his suspension to three games. Cornerback Bradley Roby was arrested on July 21 after an altercation at a bar in Bloomington, Indiana. The charges against Roby were reduced to misdemeanor on August 16. Ohio State opened their fall camp with all freshmen reporting on August 4, with other players reporting later in the week.

Coaching staff

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer was in his second year as the Buckeye's head coach during the 2013 season. In his first season with Ohio State, he led the Buckeyes to an undefeated season with twelve wins (12–0), though the team was unable to participate in the Big Ten Championship Game or a bowl game due to sanctions. On February 8, 2013, it was announced the cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs was promoted to special teams coach for the upcoming season, while also retaining his role as cornerbacks coach.

Returning starters

Ohio State returns 14 starters from the 2012 season, including nine on offense, four defense, as well as one on special teams. Quarterback Braxton Miller returns after starting all twelve games in 2012 and eight games in 2011. Along with Miller on offense, running back Carlos Hyde, offensive tacke Jack Mewhort and offensive guard Andrew Norwell all return on offense after being named to the Big Ten All-Conference team last season. On defense linebacker Ryan Shazier returns after being named to the All-Conference team in 2012, while cornerback Bradley Roby returns after being named to the AP All-American team last season. On offense, Ohio State lost tight end Jake Stoneburner and offensive tackle Reid Fragel, along with punter Ben Buchanan, all seniors. On defense, Ohio State lost defensive lineman John Simon, Garrett Goebel and Nathan Williams, linebackers Etienne Sabino and Zach Boren, along with cornerback Travis Howard, all to graduation. The only Buckeye junior eligible for the NFL Draft that declared eligibility was defensive lineman Johnathan Hankins, who was selected in the second round by the New York Giants.

Depth chart

Starters and backups.

Recruiting class

Prior to National Signing Day on February 6, 2013, six high school players that graduated early and one transfer of the 2013 recruiting class enrolled for the spring semester in order to participate in spring practice. These early enrollments included: cornerbacks Eli Apple and Cameron Burrows, quarterback J.T. Barrett, fullback William Houston, defensive ends Tyquan Lewis Tracy Sprinkle, and fullback Devin Hill, who transferred from Purdue University. On February 6, 2013, the Ohio State University athletic department confirmed that it had received the National Letter of Intent from seventeen additional players to play at Ohio State that completed the 2013 recruiting class.

Ohio State's recruiting class was highlighted by seventeen players from the "ESPN 300", including eight in the top 100: No. 11 Eli Apple (cornerback); No. 43 Gareon Conley (cornerback); No. 48 Trey Johnson (linebacker); No. 49 Jalin Marshall (wide receiver); No. 50 Vonn Bell (safety); No. 55 Dontre Wilson (athlete); No. 56 Joey Bosa (defensive tackle); and No. 62 Cam Burrows (cornerback). On signing day, Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer was quoted as calling it a great day. With Meyer going onto say, "I thought it would be a good day, but now I'll put it in the great category." The Buckeyes' signed the No. 2 recruiting class according to Rivals.com, the No. 1 recruiting class according to Scout.com, and the No. 3 recruiting class according to ESPN.

Schedule

The Big Ten Conference released the schedules for the 2013 season on April 6, 2011. The Big Ten will continue the same scheduling alignment as they had during the 2011 and 2012 seasons. As a result, Ohio State will play all five Leaders Division opponents: Illinois, Indiana, Penn State, Purdue, and Wisconsin. Ohio State will also face three Legends Division opponents: Iowa, Northwestern, and Michigan, the permanent cross-division opponent. Ohio State will play four non-conference games: Buffalo of the Mid-American Conference, San Diego State of the Mountain West Conference, California of the Pac-12 Conference, and Florida A&M of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Ohio State has two bye weeks during the season, the first between their games against Northwestern and Iowa and their second between their games against Purdue and Illinois. Following their second consecutive undefeated season, Ohio State won the Leaders Division Championship and qualified to play in the Big Ten Championship Game against Michigan State, who defeated the Buckeyes 34–24. On December 8, Ohio State was selected to play in the Orange Bowl against Clemson.

All games during the 2013 season will be broadcast on the Ohio State Football Radio Network. Paul Keels will head the crew with play-by-play, Jim Lachey with color commentary, Marty Bannister as sideline and locker room reporter, and Skip Mosic serving as the pre-game and halftime show host.

Rankings

Entering the 2013 season, the Buckeyes' were ranked No. 2 in both the AP Preseason Poll and Coaches' Preseason Poll. Following their 40–20 victory over Buffalo in the first week, the Buckeyes' dropped to No. 3 in the AP Poll, being jumped by the Oregon Ducks. After defeated San Diego State 42–7 in the second week of the season, Ohio State would drop again, falling to No. 3 in the Coaches' Poll and No. 4 in the AP Poll, behind the Clemson Tigers. Ohio State was No. 4 when the first Harris Interactive Poll was released on October 13. The Buckeyes also debuted at No. 4 in first BCS standings of the season on October 20. The Buckeyes' would also drop to No. 4 in the Coaches' Poll on October 20, behind the Florida State Seminoles. Following the Oregon Ducks' loss to the Stanford Cardinal on November 7, Ohio State moved up to No. 3 in all four polls. The Buckeyes would drop to No. 4 in the AP Poll the following week, behind the Baylor Bears. Following losses by Baylor and the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide, Ohio State jumped to No. 2 in all four polls on December 1. After the Buckeyes' loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship Game, they fell to No. 7 in the AP Poll, Harris Interactive Poll, and the BCS standings, while falling to No. 6 in the Coaches' Poll. After their loss to Clemson in the Orange Bowl, Ohio State was ranked No. 10 in the final Coaches' Poll and No. 12 in the final AP Poll.

Final statistics

Following their loss to Clemson, Ohio State's final team statistics were released. On the offensive side of the ball, Ohio State ranked seventh in total offense (511.9 yards per game), fifth in rushing offense (308.6 yards per game), 88th in passing offense (203.3 yards per game), and third in scoring offense (45.5 points per game). On the defensive side of the ball, Ohio State ranked 46th in total defense (377.4 yards per game), ninth in rushing defense (109.4 yards per game), 110th in passing defense (268 yards per game), and 28th in scoring defense (22.6 points per game). In conference, Ohio State ranked third in rushing defense and 11th in passing defense.

Individually, Carlos Hyde led the team in rushing with 1,521 total yards (138.27 yards per game), scoring 15 rushing touchdowns, and ranking fifth nationally in rushing yards per game. Braxton Miller finished the season completing 162 of 255 pass attempts, with 2,094 passing yards, 24 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. Miller also complied 1,068 rushing yards on 171 attempts, with 12 rushing touchdowns. Ryan Shazier led the team with 143 total tackles and 101 solo tackles. C.J. Barnett led the team with four interceptions.

Awards

After the Big Ten Championship Game, multiple Ohio State players were recognized for their on-field performance with a variety of awards and recognitions. The Big Ten recognized several players for their individual performances with various awards. On December 2, Braxton Miller was named the Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year, in addition to being named the Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year for the second consecutive season. Carlos Hyde was named the Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year. Miller, Hyde, Corey Linsley, Ryan Shazier and Bradley Roby were named to the Coaches' All-Big Ten First Team. Corey Brown, Andrew Norwell, Jack Mewhort, Michael Bennett and Noah Spence were named to the Coaches' All-Big Ten Second Team. Miller, Hyde, Linsley, Norwell Mewhort, Spence, Shazier and Roby were named to the Media All-Big Ten First Team, while Bennett was named to the Media All-Big Ten Second Team.

In addition to the conference awards, several players were also named to various All-American Teams. Ryan Shazier was named to the Associated Press All-American First Team, while Carlos Hyde and Jack Mewhort were named to the Associated Press All-American Second Team. Mewhort and Shazier were also named to the ESPN All-American Team. Mewhort was also named a Walter Camp All-American and Shaizer was named as a USA Today All-American. Joey Bosa was named a Freshman All-American by The Sporting News and College Football News.

Coaching changes

On December 21, co-defensive coordinator Everett Withers accepted the head coaching position at James Madison. On January 10, defensive line coach Mike Vrabel accepted a position as linebackers coach for the Houston Texans. On January 15, Larry Johnson was brought onto the Ohio State staff as the defensive line and assistant head coach. Johnson spent 18 years at Penn State prior to joining the Ohio State staff. On January 23, Ohio State announced the hiring of Chris Ash to replace Withers as co-defensive coordinator, along with being named the safeties coach.

NFL Draft

Fourteen players from Ohio State entered into the NFL Draft, twelve seniors and two juniors. On defense, Bradley Roby, Christian Bryant and C.J. Barnett all entered. On offense, Carlos Hyde, Jack Mewhort, Corey Linsley, Andrew Norwell, Corey Brown, Kenny Guiton, Jordan Hall, Marcus Hall and Chris Fields entered, while George Makridis entered on special teams. Shazier, a junior, announced his intention to enter the draft on January 6, and is projected to go in the first round. Roby, a redshirt junior, announced his intention to enter the draft in November, and is expected to go in the second round. Shazier was selected with the fifteen pick in the first round by the Pittsburgh Steelers, while Roby was selected with the thirty-first pick in the first round by the Denver Broncos. Mewhort was taken by the Indianapolis Colts and Hyde was taken by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round. Linsley was taken in the fifth round by the Green Bay Packers and Bryant was taken in the seven round by the St. Louis Rams.