For the first time since noted CFL star, Chris Leak, Uran Meyer has a question at quarterback

Miller was one of a long line of solid QB starters for Meyer.

Braxton Miller's injury and subsequent absence from the entire 2014-15 season of college football has created turmoil not only in the Big 10, where OSU was expected to roll to an easy conference title and spot in the playoffs, but also nationally. Questions arise like would a one loss Michigan State team be able to make it into the playoff? Most likely a close loss to Oregon in the second week wouldn't hurt that much, but losing in-conference where the best player in it is on the sideline would probably be too damaging. Indeed, it's not that out of the question that Miller's injury could leave the entire Big 10 out of the playoff. Ohio State's easy walk through the Big 10 is also of course much more interesting. I think their schedule is to a degree already a bit overlooked. Night games at Penn State have always been challenging for the Buckeyes, the MSU game of course, and a scrappy Terrapin team could all be potential landmines. Whereas before you could give close games the benefit of the doubt because of Miller's dyanmic-ness those games will now need to be played much more closer to the vest. (It is a Tressel joke).

This year will be interesting for another reason as well, how will Meyer handle not having an experienced veteran at quarterback? For about as far back as you care to go Meyer has enjoyed this rare luxury. Going back to Meyer's days at Utah where he first became known nationally, Meyer had a young quarterback named Alex Smith, better known as the career and indeed embodiment of the "game manager". 

The Game Manager, managing a game.

I don't use that term negatively, mind you. Alex Smith has shown flashes of greatness. He's sort of gotten a raw deal in my opinion. Before being benched by the 49ers (after an injury) for Colin Kaepernick he had 104 QB rating. Oh, and he also managed the Utes to a 21-1 record, ableit against the power-house Mountain West Conference.

Following his success at Utah, Urban Meyer took his talents to Gainsville where he had another spot of success. When Meyer arrived the quarterback at Florida was one Chris Leak who wasn't exactly a household name. While he had enjoyed some success under Ron Zook, Meyer and new OC Dan Mullen managed to transform Chris Leak into a national title winner. 

41-14, never forget. 

Urban Meyer's offense consists of three receivers and the quarterback in the shotgun. Motion in the backfield creates an option to keep defenses guessing. Seeing that Leak was struggling as he was more of a traditional drop back passer, Meyer changed certain aspects of his offense to suit him. He also inserted one Tim Tebow in certain situations. This if nothing else should give Buckeye fans hope that not all is lost. Meyer has demonstrated ability to make the most of even mediocre quarterbacks as well as a willingness to alter his scheme to suit a particular quarterbacks skill set.

With Leak gone to pursue a fulfilling career in the CFL as well as the Arena Football League, Meyer gave Tim Tebow the starting job. 

Tebow quickly became Meyers' waifu. 

Tebow highlighted how lethal Meyer's offense can be when he has a quarterback seemingly tailor made for the role. Tebow's combination of arm strength and size made even SEC defenses at times seem vulnerable. For the next 2 years Meyer and Tebow dominated the SEC, oh except that one year they lost to Alabama and Tebow cried like a bitch. But other than that, they had a fruitful career together including another national title and a Heisman.

Finally, Meyer followed his destiny and became coach at Ohio State where he was lucky enough to have another player perfectly suited for his offense fall into his lap in Braxton Miller. The duo took Ohio State to nearly two undefeated seasons however Miller has been shown to be injury prone. 

That leads us to today where for the first time since Chris Leak Meyer has an unproven starter at quarterback. This is arguably even more dire of a situation because JT Barett has literally never played a down at the collegiate level. However for all the reasons I've said I think not all is lost. Barrett is a Meyer recruit so obviously he fits into the system Meyer runs. He is a natural leader, according to reports, I don't know what that means exactly but I'm sure it's good. However he also lacks the size of Miller or even the other option at QB, Cardale Jones. It will be important for Meyer to ease Barret into the game, limit his access to the playbook and establish a solid running game which all reports are the Buckeyes should have one. There is speculation that Barrett's ceiling could be higher than Guiton's which is great news, but lower than Miller's. 

The Buckeyes should be able to easily get to a 10 win season. But when national title hopes were a legitimate hope for Buckeye fans that is still sort of a bummer. However, if we get a quarterback who is better than Guiton and just a hint of Miller I know I at least will be content. Even a "game manager" at quarterback under this offense can do great things. Meyer has proven if nothing else he can develop a quarterback as good as anyone else in the game.