End Zone: Ohio State Buckeyes, 10-17

10/17/2013

Urban Meyer tried to get away from football for part of Ohio State's bye weekend. Honest to goodness, he did, traveling to Johnson City, Tenn., to watch his daughter, Gigi, play a volleyball game Saturday for Florida Gulf Coast University.

But mostly, he spent his day like the rest of us — even in the bleachers at Eastern Tennessee State. "I got on my iPad," he said, "and I started watching [the Penn State-Michigan] game. I watched it really close."

The verdict after his TV drive-by of the national scene: "I think we're right there," he said. "We're a good team."

Meyer's focus now is Ohio State evolving from good to, in his mind, great. To get there, here is an unsolicited blueprint from a former Tecmo Bowl champion. OSU must convince itself a regular-season stretch run absent a ranked opponent is not, contrary to popular belief, a stretch-and-win exercise; show unyielding belief in Braxton Miller (a QB that gifted won't come through Columbus for years); and harden a pass defense Meyer calls "very alarming."

Do all that, and the Buckeyes — five wins away from a school-record 23 straight victories — will go from good to the team everyone else is watching the first Monday in January.