Scarlet Sunrise: Urban Meyer returns to Ohio State football practice

Good morning, Ohio State fans, and welcome to the Scarlet Sunrise! Football will always be our focus, but every day we’ll cover news, notes and analysis from across Buckeyes sports. Join us each morning to get caught up on everything you missed in the world of Ohio State football, recruiting, basketball and more. 

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Urban Meyer back at practice

Ohio State football players met with the media after Tuesday’s practice and said Urban Meyer’s first practice back was like business as usual.

“It felt good,” running back Mike Weber said. “It was like he never left really.”

Meyer returned to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Monday, but that’s Ohio State’s NCAA-mandated off day for players. The Buckeyes’ first practice of the week came on Tuesday.

To see what else Weber and his teammates had to say, check out Lettermen Row’s post-practice interview videos.

New depth chart released

Ohio State released its depth chart for the Rutgers game. Of note was safety Jordan Fuller being listed as a starter after missing the first game. The entire depth chart can be seen here.

Buckeyes move in polls

Ohio State’s 77-31 win over Oregon State led to some movement in the polls — one in a good direction, and one in a bad direction — that put them in the same spot.

The Buckeyes moved from third to fourth in the Coaches Poll (leapfrogged by Georgia) but moved up from fifth to fourth in the AP Top 25.

Who helped recruiting?

The Tuesday recruiting question of the day was an interesting one, as Lettermen Row recruiting czar Birm was asked which assistants stepped up on the recruiting front during Meyer’s absence. His answer was an interesting one, though, because he noted that while assistants did indeed pull their weight perhaps the most unexpected boost came from Ohio State commits:

“However, as a player-driven program, what Ohio State needed the most over the last month was for the recruits themselves to lead. Players like Garrett Wilson, Harry Miller, Jack Miller, Paris Johnson and Jake Wray all stepped up for their teammates and took the challenge of representing the Buckeyes in a tough time head on. In doing so, they helped calm the waters for the rest of their peers. That’s not to say the other commitments didn’t play a key role, because their level-headedness and maturity kept them from making any rash decisions when everyone would’ve accepted that, but that group of five played a major role.”

Birm’s full answer can be found here.

Boren breaks down defense

For those wondering what happened to the Silver Bullets on Saturday afternoon, former Ohio State linebacker Zach Boren stepped back into the film lab to break down the video from the opener for the first BuckIQ of the 2018 season.

Zach did a great job of breaking down what went wrong for Ohio State on Oregon State’s big plays, and it was an excellent look at what the Buckeyes can do better going forward to avoid such mishaps.

Counting down

• Ohio State vs. Rutgers: 3 days
• Urban Meyer’s first game: 17 days
• The Game: 80 days

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