Meyer seeking 21st straight win coming off a bye
His last loss was to Ben Roethlisberger and Miami in 2001.
Ohio State COLUMBUS — coach Urban Meyer’s postbye week record speaks for itself as do the various
— ways he’s accomplished it.
The last time he lost after an open date was in 2001, when he was a first-year coach at Bowling Green. A redshirt freshman quarterback named Ben Roethlisberger threw for 305 yards to help hand Meyer and the Falcons a 24-21 loss.
Since that defeat he’s reeled off 20 consecutive wins coming off a bye, and those triumphs have come in just about every way possible. While amassing a 21-1 record, he’s beaten teams ranked as high as No. 4 and teams that finished with two wins. He’s won on the road and at home, in blowouts and in overtime. And the victories have piled up as he’s coached four different teams in four different conferences.
Meyer has done it largely the same way he’s compiled the rest of his coaching success — by being flexible and making sure his staff is in alignment. Some coaches find a plan and stick with it, but Meyer has changed his strategies based on team needs as well as the opponent.
“I remember one year we had a really bad team, we went out full pads for five straight days, practiced and got better,” he said. “I’ve had very good teams where we’re very mature and we backed off them a little bit. So there’s no template. It depends on the team.”
This year offers the biggest test of all, and Meyer is handling it differently than he did in 2016 when Ohio State faced a hapless Rutgers squad. Ohio State is maybe the hottest team in the country right now, but No. 2 Penn State is coming off a 42-13 win against Michigan and appears to be rounding into top form, too.
In order to try to keep his team from losing its edge with the time off, Meyer ordered a scrimmage on the Thursday of the off week.
“We have to do a good job practicing the heck out of them, but you have to be fresh,” he said. “It was in shells, but we played 55, 60 plays out here, because I want to make sure we keep going in this game mode.”
Time warp: Every year James Franklin has been coaching at Penn State, he’s gone up against J.T. Barrett. The Ohio State quarterback got to Columbus the same year Franklin came to Happy Valley, and it appears that prolonged exposure may have warped time in the Penn State coach’s mind.
“J.T. Barrett has been playing at Ohio State for 16 years, if not 17,” he told reporters Tuesday.
Barrett was 28 for 43 through the air for 245 yards, a touchdown and zero interceptions in Ohio State’s loss to Penn State last year. After a tough start highlighted by struggles in Ohio State’s loss to Oklahoma, Barrett has been leading a terrifying offense.
In the spotlight: Franklin appeared on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” on Monday night. Penn State is a hot national ticket these days.
“We try to do things nationally because we understand the importance of getting our brand out nationally,” Franklin said. “We’re trying to limit the impact on our normal day. We have a staff meeting at 7 a.m., so most of my interviews are handled before that meeting or late at night.”