COLUMBUS, Ohio _ Before 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith became Ohio State's starting quarterback, one teammate foreshadowed his arrival with a comment along the lines of, "We have talent you haven't seen yet."
He might as well have been previewing the 2016 Buckeyes, written off this season after an exodus to the NFL that saw 12 players drafted, including a record 10 in the first three rounds.
With 16 starters to replace and 44 freshmen on the roster, fans feared Ohio State would have a down year. Urban Meyer had the fewest starters and fewest lettermen returning in his 15 years as a coach. OSU entered the season with the youngest team in major college football.
But before the Sept. 3 opener, Meyer said on his weekly radio show that the Buckeyes had "a bunch of very good, young talent that we get to unleash."
On Sunday, Meyer's prediction proved prescient. The Buckeyes' cupboard was far from bare. With top-five recruiting classes, Meyer had stockpiled talent that may not have been household names, but had pro potential. Now Meyer's second national championship with OSU and what would be the fourth of his career is within reach.
Boosted by a Sept. 17 victory at now-No. 7 Oklahoma, Ohio State (11-1) was selected to compete in the College Football Playoff despite not reaching the Big Ten Championship game. It was seeded third and will play second-seeded Clemson (12-1) Dec. 31 in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., site of OSU's 2002 national title triumph.
The other semifinal matches No. 1 Alabama (13-0) against No. 4 Washington (12-1) in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Dec. 31 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The winners advance to the title game Jan. 9 at 8:30 p.m. at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
After the rigors of the season, including a 24-21 loss at Penn State on Oct. 22, the Buckeyes are babies no longer. But there was still talk of them after Meyer watched ESPN's selection show from the maternity ward at nearby Riverside Hospital.
He and wife Shelley celebrated the birth of their first grandchild, Troy, at 5:30 a.m. Sunday to his oldest daughter, Nicki, and her husband, Corey Dennis, a graduate assistant on Meyer's staff.
Meyer said Shelley went to Riverside at 4 a.m., and he arrived with son Nate at 6:15.
"Got to meet the baby, make sure my daughter's fine, which she is, dad's fine," Meyer said. "You're very grateful God blessed my daughter with a healthy baby and a great husband."
Granddad was fine, too. But as he thought about the Buckeyes' road, he admitted returning to the College Football Playoff came a year early. He pointed to players who emerged like safety Malik Hooker, cornerback Marshon Lattimore, linebackers Chris Worley and Jerome Baker.
"As we went through two-a-days, I knew we had to stay healthy. We're fortunate we stayed fairly healthy," Meyer said. "We had to develop and we did. Whoever thought Malik Hooker and those guys would develop, Marshon would stay healthy, he's never been healthy for a season. You develop Chris Worley and Jerome Baker, and the D-line would end up being a strength. Mike Weber, a thousand-yard rusher as a freshman. I could go on and on.
"Very proud of their progress. That game in Norman, Okla., turned out to be kind of the difference in this whole situation."
Junior defensive end Tyquan Lewis remembered Oklahoma week well as 30 freshmen made the travel squad, 15 of them redshirts.
"Guys practiced hard. You could just tell, young guys, they were ready," Lewis said. "That was their opportunity to showcase their talents on a big stage. It's a hostile environment. We had a rain delay. Everything looked bad, but none of them were nervous. They stayed composed, went out there and played hard."
The vibe Lewis picked up was right. Lattimore, a redshirt sophomore from Glenville High School, intercepted a Baker Mayfield pass to set up a touchdown. Baker, a sophomore from Cleveland Benedictine, returned a tipped ball 68 yards for a touchdown. Noah Brown, a sophomore from Flanders, N.J., tied a school record with four touchdown receptions.
After a 45-24 victory, Meyer said, "From the opening kickoff, our guys swung as hard as they could. So they're no longer the youngest team."
Asked if this was a coming-of-age game, Meyer answered, "This was THE coming of age game."
For much of the season, at least until the Nov. 26 double-overtime victory over Michigan, that was the young Buckeyes' best performance. But for the most part, the players who excelled after the thunderstorm hit Norman proved ready for the challenge.
Hooker, who sat behind Vonn Bell in 2015, tied a program record with three interception returns for touchdowns and has six overall. Worley, who replaced NFL-bound Darron Lee, stands fourth on the team in tackles. Lattimore, who filled the cornerback spot vacated by Eli Apple, contributed four interceptions. Baker replaced injured Dante Booker of St. Vincent-St. Mary in Game 2 and now stands second on the team in tackles.
The Buckeyes fielded three new offensive linemen, including true freshman Michael Jordan at left guard. The defensive line proved to be loaded, even with the loss of tackle Tracy Sprinkle to a season-ending injury in Game 1. People forgot that Lewis led the Buckeyes in sacks in 2015, not Joey Bosa, taken No. 3 by the San Diego Chargers.
The Buckeyes do have an Achilles heel in their inconsistent passing game. Redshirt junior quarterback J.T. Barrett has struggled with his accuracy as he tries to find reliable targets in an inexperienced receiving corps. But as of Sunday, the Buckeyes had 27 days to improve that.
Meyer was right on Sept. 17 _ the young Buckeyes did come of age. After what they've shown thus far in the national spotlight, going to the College Football Playoff a year early shouldn't seem overwhelming.
