It's back to the basics in a sense for the Ohio State Buckeyes following the Big Ten title loss against Indiana. The Buckeyes looked out of sorts, not able to get into much of a rhythm on offense in the 13-10 win for the Hoosiers. Is this a wake-up call for Ryan Day and his players?
Ohio State football learns its CFP fate after loss to Indiana
That's what plenty of people are hoping for, but there's concern over how this team is going to respond to adversity. That's exactly what Ohio State legend Urban Meyer has on his mind, as he saw the action on Saturday night and he was quite disappointed with the performance.
Urban Meyer is 'anxious' to see how Ohio State football responds to the Big Ten title game loss
“You can say the template is set because they did it last year,” Meyer said. “After the horrible loss to the Wolverines, they rallied back. Here’s the difference, Brady (Quinn), last year’s team was the most veteran team in college football. That’s not the case this year. You’ve got a young quarterback. Remember last year you had senior Will Howard, you had a senior-laden group.
"I used to say there’s a big difference between coaching grown ass men in that locker room to young guys. You’re going to find out. The template is there, but I don’t know enough about this team. There’s been zero adversity. This is it. This is it for them, so I’m anxious to watch.”
Meyer makes a great point here. Last year's squad had veteran leadership all over the place. That's not the case this year, especially behind center. Julian Sayin is a redshirt freshman, in his first season starting for the Buckeyes. He hasn't been punched in the mouth like this.
Will he answer the call for Day and his staff? That's what everyone is going to be keeping an eye on moving forward. With the final CFP rankings dropping on Sunday, Ohio State took home the No. 2 overall seed. A first-round bye is on the way, followed by a quarterfinals matchup with either Miami or Texas A&M. In order for Ohio State to move on to the semifinals, the Buckeyes will need to do a 180 from what we saw against Indiana. That's what Meyer and others are hoping to see.