Sometime Sunday morning, after Ohio State’s final practice before the team breaks briefly from the madness that is Sugar Bowl preparations for Christmas, players and coaches autographed a motivational banner that has hung over the indoor of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for almost two years.
Players signing The Chase banner for winning the Big 10 Championship. Will forever go down in history. Go Bucks! pic.twitter.com/KKqTE9chJX
— Urban Meyer (@OSUCoachMeyer) December 21, 2014
The banner, which simply reads, “The Chase...” in big, white letters over a red backdrop, is the name the Buckeyes gave a quest for Big Ten championship and beyond. The sign was hung in the spring of 2013.
Of course, that journey was at least partially fulfilled when Ohio State crushed Wisconsin by 59 points in Indianapolis, effectively avenging a devastating loss in the league’s title bout a year earlier and the relative fallout that followed. The celebration of raising the conference's crown at Lucas Oil Stadium two weekends ago is currently the pinnacle of head coach Urban Meyer's three-year tenure.
Still, The Chase continues for the Buckeyes, who have turned their full attention to the Sugar Bowl and top-ranked Alabama. The winner of the College Football Playoff semifinal game plays for the national championship in Dallas. The moment at hand is perhaps sweetened by Ohio State's path to the here and now.
Before that, The Chase, which had become so woven into the team's lexicon that it was an annoying cliche, wasn't brought up so much anymore after a postseason collapse last year.
After all, when their 2014 campaign started, the Buckeyes were filled with a bevy of inexperienced first-year starters on both sides of the ball made significantly worse by life without its most valuable player in star quarterback Braxton Miller, who suffered a season-ending injury 12 days before the season opener.
Even Meyer, who maintained an unwavering confidence in his crew despite the craziest circumstances, said he thought Ohio State was "a year away" from being able to compete for championships.
Yet The Chase continued, even afte a humiliating loss to Virginia Tech (who finished 6-6) in September in which the Buckeyes were comprehensively outplayed and outcoached. That loss, which sent them plummeting in the polls and in the court of perception, looked like it might derail Ohio State's once-promising season.
The Buckeyes, though, say it brought them together.
“I think the way we started really rolling after Virginia Tech was when we really started getting a different or getting a new feel for the team and really trusting each other and playing for each other," senior captain and defensive tackle Michael Bennett said.
"Virginia Tech was really just such a rough game on both sides of the ball, kicking game, all that stuff. Once we started getting into a rhythm ... we were really on an emotional upswing and we’ve been riding that for a while now and guys are really close and still really pumped up.”
Wins over Penn State, a double-overtime thriller in State College, and Michigan State, the defacto Big Ten Game of the Year ensured The Chase continued without Noah Spence and Rod Smith, veteran players who parted with the team because of off-field misconduct, and sophomore H-back Dontre Wilson, a key cog in a rolling offense who broke his foot against the Spartans. The Chase continued without redshirt freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett, who broke his ankle after totaling a school record 45 touchdowns and going 11-1 in place of the injured Miller.
“I feel like there’s not a player on this team that can’t be replaced. We have some great players on the team and when certain players went down most of the world went into panic like, ‘What are we going to do?’ But the people that have been replacing these players have been just as good and I feel like with the recruiting the players that we have, that’s what allowed us to keep winning those games," redshirt sophomore safety Tyvis Powell said.
"After suffering that loss (to Virginia Tech), just seeing the focus go back into place. I feel like that loss really humbled us because everybody was big-headed. Ever since then, everybody goes hard in practice and makes sure they finish plays. Nobody let things get away and everybody is held accountable and I think those are the things that actually helped us get to where we’re at today. I’m not happy for the loss, but I’m glad that it kind of happened because it renewed our focus.” And The Chase, which is as much of a not-so-subtle reminder as it is a mission statement, continued.
It might as well read, you come to Ohio State to win championships; anything less in football-crazed Columbus is a failure, no matter how much you might try and sugarcoat it. The Buckeyes, which mounted a 24-2 record before unraveling late last year, learned this.
"We got that taste in our mouth when we lost the Big Ten," senior wide receiver Devin Smith said. "We don't want that to happen again. Everyone came together in the summer and grinded and grinded, and now it shows."
It's why The Chase, though in part accomplished, remains an open book with chapters still left to be written.
Perhaps it's fitting, then, that banner in the Woody reads "The Chase..." instead of "The Chase." Perhaps the difference between an ellipsis and a period is the difference between good and great.
"I’m pretty sure that (banner is) never coming down," Smith said. At least not until it's completed.
