When Ohio State entered the Woody Hayes Athletic Center a day following their stunning loss to Michigan State, the nation's former unanimous No. 1 team did something that wasn't normal.
"We haven't been in that position to not have our victory meal on Sunday night too many times," senior defensive tackle Tommy Schutt said Monday. "I've only had about four in my career now. It's different, but something we don't plan on getting used to here."
Schutt's class is now 48-4 after Saturday's 17-14 loss at Ohio Stadium to the Spartans, an ugly display from a team vying for Big Ten East and College Football Playoff positioning. Instead it was Mark Dantonio's club that made a statement to the country that it remained a force to be reckoned with.
"(Sunday) I had a team meeting, and as you can imagine, the knot in everyone's stomach was there," Urban Meyer said. "I would be really disappointed if it wasn't there."
Meyer's offense sputtered its way to just 132 total yards and five first downs against the Spartans, refusing to try and throw the ball down the field in a driving rainstorm that eventually subsided in the second half. Meyer called it a "very poor performance," but the Buckeyes know now they must turn the page quickly to their arch-rival. The fate of their season depends on it.
"We've got to move past a very, very tough loss, and big game this week, the rivalry game on the horizon, one that we all take extremely serious around here, and one that we cherish to be a part of," Meyer said. "It's a sign of a team that can move past a very difficult Saturday and move forward."
The Wolverines are 9-2 after dispatching Penn State, 28-16, Saturday in State College, Pennsylvania. The winner of Saturday's game needs the Spartans to lose to the Nittany Lions this weekend to earn a trip to Indianapolis and the Big Ten Championship Game as Big Ten East Division champions.
The goals the Buckeyes set out to attain prior to 2015 are still within reach, albeit slightly. That's why they must take what happened Saturday, swallow it, and move on to The Game.
"We still hold on to the feeling a little bit," Joshua Perry said. "I think you use that as motivation in terms of, ‘We should have done this or we could have done that.’ I think that’s the part that we need to be over and we’ll go out tomorrow ready to roll in practice and ready to start a new game plan and ready to put in the work for this week."
Meyer told reporters he plans to take more of a role in the offensive play calling moving forward, as the Buckeyes ran a total of 45 plays Saturday due to a lack of production. It wasn't pretty, and resulted in star running back Ezekiel Elliott blasting the game plan after the game.
An emotional moment from an emotional player, but Meyer stood behind his player Monday and demanded more of himself and his staff in order to have a chance at beating Michigan.
“We could feel sorry for ourselves and not want to come back and work and lose the rest of the games this season, which none of us want to do. Or we could come back and use it as motivation like we did last year and continue to get better. Crazier things have happened.”– Joey Bosa
"If you want to find it, you have to find a disgruntled, or someone — 'disgruntled' is probably not the appropriate word, but just someone that has emotional — especially just guys that earn their keep around here," Meyer said. "Absolutely there's conversation. It's called very respectful conversation."
Not only is part of conversation in house this week about the need to fix a struggling offense ahead of a game against one of the nation's best defenses, Ohio State is trying to close the book on it's first loss in more than 15 months in order to be up for a visit to its most hated rival.
"There’s two ways we can take this loss: We could feel sorry for ourselves and not want to come back and work and lose the rest of the games this season, which none of us want to do," All-American defensive end Joey Bosa said. "Or we could come back and use it as motivation like we did last year and continue to get better. Crazier things have happened."
Ohio State could back its way into the Big Ten title game, but only if it first takes care of business against the Wolverines on their home turf.
For now, the Buckeyes only wish to turn their focus on the task at hand as to avoid not missing a victory meal on back-to-back Sundays and to send the seniors out with a perfect career record against Michigan.
"The one thing that’s going to really make me feel better is getting that fourth pair of gold pants," Perry said. "That’s just a mission for me right now and the goal for a lot of the seniors and the goal for a lot of guys around here just to finish it off the right way."
Added Meyer: "How do you deal with disappointment with the way we're created? I don't want to be overly dramatic here, but get around family and people you care about. That's a sleepless night Saturday night and then you start to feel better when you see your guys show up again. So that's what — just personally speaking, and the guys I've spoken to. Move forward."
