Coming off a season in which it won the first College Football Playoff national championship with third-string quarterback Cardale Jones, Ohio State has the reputation under coach Urban Meyer of rolling with the punches and swinging away.
The players and the coaches say they expect nothing less this season, despite the fact that they will go into the season opener at Virginia Tech on Sept.7 without All-America defensive end Joey Bosa and receivers Jalin Marshall, Dontre Wilson and Corey Smith, all of whom must serve a one-game suspension for unspecified violations of athletic department policy.
The program’s culture, set down by Meyer and spurred by strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti and the rest of the staff, lives the “next man up,” chip-on-the-shoulder credos, senior offensive tackle Taylor Decker said, even when things seemingly are going well.