Urban Meyer sees line of scrimmage as the biggest difference for new Big Ten teams

Former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer knows as well as just about anyone what it takes to win in the Big Ten. Meyer won three Big Ten titles and a national championship during his seven years leading the Buckeyes program.

The current Fox Sports analyst recently joined The Herd with Colin Cowherd and shared the biggest challenge for Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington as they transition to the Big Ten for the 2024 season.

According to Meyer, it starts and ends with the lines of scrimmage.

“The difference between the Pac-12 and the Big Ten back when I was there and talking to coaches, was the line of scrimmage,” Urban Meyer said. “The Big Ten, and certainly the top half of the league, had better offensive and defensive linemen that I saw than in the Pac-12. … As far as skill, quarterback play, skilled athletes on defense, I think certainly the four teams coming into the Big Ten, they have that skill. But the question I have is will they have the guys up front to compete at the highest level.”

Urban Meyer had multiple games against Pac-12 teams when he was the coach at Ohio State, including beating Oregon in the national championship game and earning wins over USC and Washington his final two years in Columbus.

Time and time again he noticed that Big Ten teams were better up front than those in the Pac-12.

“You know, my last two years we played USC in the Cotton Bowl, and that way we had the opportunity to watch all their film all season long,” Meyer said. “Then my final season in ‘18 we played Washington in the Rose Bowl. And so you got a really good feel.”

Meyer expects the new teams in the Big Ten to fare just fine for the most part, but he does wonder how they will perform against Ohio State, Michigan and a few other programs at the top of the league.

“Those teams at the top of the Big Ten, the offensive and defensive lines are pretty rugged,” Meyer said.

It will be interesting to see how Washington, UCLA, USC and Oregon perform this year. Last season Washington and Oregon were the top two teams in the Pac-12, while UCLA and USC were in the middle of the pack. Time will tell if one of those four teams can’t get into Big Ten championship contention in the 2024 season.