It’s no secret that former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer might have a little more interest in all things scarlet and gray, and it does sometimes come out during his work with the Big Noon FOX College Football crew.
Despite that though, he knows the game more than almost anyone and has been a home run hire for FOX, often providing insight and analysis that goes far beyond a personality behind a desk.
Nobody should be surprised then that the marriage between Meyer’s Ohio State allegiances and his knowledge of the game were a big part of his thoughts on the best five running backs entering the 2020 season in college football. There are the usual names he included like Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard, Travis Etienne of Clemson, and Najee Harris of Alabama.
But, he — unlike the rest of the crew — seemed to reach and pick Ohio State transfer Trey Sermon, as his No. 5 back coming into the year. It sounds crazy, especially since Sermon fell behind Kennedy Brooks on the depth chart at Oklahoma.
But then, when you listen to Meyer’s rationale, he once again makes a lot of sense. But before we get into all of it, here are the top five that all the panelists, including the fans, voted for as the best backs in college football for 2020:
Now, here’s what Meyer said about Sermon at Ohio State.
Next … Urban Meyer on Trey Sermon
You can watch the entire crew’s thoughts regarding the top five running backs coming back for 2020, but specifically, Meyer had this to say:
“The thing that’s interesting to me about — like a Trey Sermon is, if you put him behind a balanced offense, it’s going to be hard to gang up and try to stop him,” Meyer said. I know their offensive line — elite offensive line, elite quarterback, elite receivers — that’s the best formula for an elite running back. That means you can’t gang up on him.”
“You can stop a good running back. You know how you do it? You put more people in the box and force them to throw it. You know, if I see my man up in the top right there (of the virtual segment), Reggie Bush, I’m putting all eleven at the line of scrimmage. You can’t do that to Justin Fields. So what you’re going to do — if Trey Sermon stays healthy, and I saw him up close and personal when I coached against him, a lot of respect for him. And that line, and the balance of that offense, I think he’s going to have a big-time year.”
That seems to make a lot of sense. Defensive coordinators are going to pull their hair out trying to put together a game plan to stop the Ohio State offense this year. With so much ability on the outside, a veteran line, and a quarterback that can sling it around or run the ball when things break down, what do you do? It’s unlikely many defenses will key in on Trey Sermon, and that should give him pretty of open running lanes.
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