CHICAGO – Urban Meyer and Ohio State rolled into Big Ten football media days Thursday as the defending national champions and the No. 1 team in the preseason coaches' poll.
Meyer has so much talent returning, it almost looked like a repeat Big Ten title would come too easily for the conference's good.
But then came a reminder that nothing is certain in a game played by 18- to 22-year-olds. Ohio State suspended All-America defensive end Joey Bosa and three other key players from its first game against Virginia Tech for an unspecified violation of team rules.
"There's no perfect team. There's no perfect program. And everyone deals with stuff," Meyer said. "You know, when you're Ohio State or some of these other big-time programs, stuff becomes a major deal."
For one day, at least, it was a story line that rivaled the one Buckeyes fans have been obsessing over for seven months: Which returning hero starts at quarterback?
Ohio State lost Braxton Miller to a season-ending shoulder injury last August. J.T. Barrett was magnificent as his replacement, but he broke an ankle against Michigan. Then Cardale Jones delivered the best third-string performance in the history of college football, with cannon-like throws that keyed season-ending victories over Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon.
Three's a crowd at quarterback, and Miller narrowed the list to two recently, when he moved to slot receiver, knowing his throwing shoulder still isn't 100 percent.
"I have a lot of respect for him to be able to humble himself and change positions," Buckeyes left tackle Taylor Decker said. "He said, 'I'm not going to do what's best for me, I'm going to do what's best for the team.' "