Urban Meyer weighs in on where Ohio State must improve to remain atop the CFP rankings

Ohio State has opened the first two official College Football Playoff Rankings of the 2023 season as the committee’s No. 1 team. This week, Urban Meyer explained to On3 where the Buckeyes need to improve in order to remain atop the poll and survive the test vs. Michigan to end the year.

On this week’s edition of Urban’s Take with Tim May, the two discussed various topics revolving around the College Football Playoff, including the decision to put Meyer’s former team, Ohio State, at the top. Being No. 1 is fine for now, but several weeks and some huge matchups await until the committee ultimately unveils their field, so the Buckeyes have work to do.

In order to continue their upswing, Meyer called for continued improvement along the offensive line — which he says is already growing under coach Justin Fry.

“Ohio State’s offensive line, their weakness, they’re getting better and better and better,” said Meyer to May. “You know, you watch them on tape and Justin Fry is that good a coach. He was a GA (grad assistant) for me and I’ve known him forever. Excellent coach and you can see it now. You know, three new starters and a center that really, really struggled. He’s got to continue to improve, but they’re getting better and better.”

That offensive line has to open holes for OSU’s gifted and dangerous running back while also providing the necessary time in pass protection for a young quarterback to get the ball to the Buckeyes’ excellent pass catchers, including superstar wideout Marvin Harrison.

“You know, Kyle McCord, statistically, he’s done a decent job,” Meyer continued, noting the need for even more playmaking around McCord.

“You know, the one guy they have right now, two guys, TreVeyon Henderson and obviously Marvin Harrison Jr. — they need a couple more. As you get to that final game, right now it’s TreVeyon Henderson’s finally back. And when he’s healthy, he is a weapon, because you have to defend and you cannot isolate Marvin Harrison. There’s not a corner in the country who can stop Marvin Harrison. So when you do that, you take a guy out of the box and lean him towards Marvin, that opens up Trey’Von Henderson.”

Still, though, whether it’s a second receiver like Emeka Egbuku or someone else, Meyer is adamant that Ohio State needs a little more juice on offense to remain a national championship favorite.

“So they still need, in my opinion, to make a big dash at the end. Egbuka, someone else has got to come on. You know, you need three or four playmakers in the final stretch here.”