Ohio State football Focus on The Game
Buckeyes putting disappointing loss behind them with Michigan on tap
Their championship hopes are on life support. Their star running back criticized the play-calling. Oh, and now their resurgent archrival awaits.
If the mettle of the 2015 Ohio State Buckeyes remained a question as they trudged past 10 overmatched foes, it is now front and center after a dispiriting 17-14 loss to Michigan State.
It had been 24 games since the Buckeyes had lost. Even
with uneven play, they controlled their fate as far as the Big Ten championship game and College Football Playoff.
Saturday changed everything. The offensive performance — 132 yards — was the worst of any Urban Meyer team in his 15 years of coaching. Against that backdrop, Ohio State must now turn the page and prepare for Michigan.
“Yesterday, I had a team meeting, and as you can imagine, the knot in everyone’s stomach was there, and I would be really disappointed if it wasn’t there,” Meyer said.
One of the topics in that team meeting was the postgame comments by running back Ezekiel Elliott criticizing the play-calling against the Spartans. Meyer said Elliott came to see him and apologized, as the running back did Monday on Twitter.
Meyer said Elliott chose the wrong forum and timing to vent his frustration, but said he would not discipline him for the remarks and added that he had “squashed” the issue with the team.
“Zeke has been a good student, very loyal, incredible football player,” Meyer said. “One of the most selfless players I’ve ever coached and been around.”
The other mitigating factor is that Meyer agreed that Elliott’s criticism had merit. Meyer said after the game that he wasn’t content with the conservative play-calling.
Asked Monday for an assessment after having time to reflect and review the video, Meyer answered, “Not very good. I have to do better.”
He said he regretted not being more forceful in telling quarterbacks coach Tim Beck in the press box or offensive coordinator Ed Warinner that he wanted certain plays called. Meyer said he would take a more active role in play-calling the rest of the season.
He said a thorough post-mortem on the offense’s issues would have to wait until after the season. Now, the focus is
Ohio State’s offensive performance — 132 yards — was the worst of any Urban Meyer team in his 15 years of coaching.
entirely on Michigan, Meyer said, though of course he didn’t use that verboten word.
Meyer has won three close games against mediocre Michigan teams since his arrival in 2012. Now the Wolverines (9-2) are revived under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh. Their only losses were in their opener at Utah and the crazy, blown-punt debacle against Michigan State.
“I’m not surprised at all,” Meyer said of Michigan’s turnaround. “I think they have excellent players. They are wellcoached.”
For Buckeyes players, the chance to earn another goldpants trinket for beating Michigan is particularly welcomed after Saturday’s loss.
“I think it’ll kind of light a fire under us that we did (lose),” left tackle Taylor Decker said. “We didn’t play well. Underachieving in a game, you just hate to see that. Hopefully, it’ll ignite a fire under some guys — the whole team. This is a huge game, and nothing would make me feel better than winning my fourth pair of gold pants — going up there and beating them at their place.”
The Buckeyes understand that the 10 victories to start the season will become mostly forgotten if they end their regular season with losses in their two most important games. If Penn State upsets Michigan State, the path to the Big Ten championship game and possibly a return to the College Football playoff remain open.
But that wasn’t on the Buckeyes’ minds on Monday. Rebounding from Saturday was.
“Getting a win, and a big win at that, is the best way to bounce back and show what this program is about,” Decker said. “If we can’t handle a loss and get better from it, then what are we doing?”