CHICAGO — J.T. Barrett doesn't remember what games it happened. Only that it happened on more than one occasion.
Ohio State, in the midst of what ended up as a 23-game winning streak that included Big Ten and national titles, struggled at times to beat teams by as much as fans or others thought they should in 2015. Checks kept going in the win column, but never as emphatically as expected. The weight of ridiculously high expectations rested firmly on the shoulders of each player, including everything else that goes with being a college football player.
The fun didn't exist anymore, so a senior captain and team leader, Joshua Perry, had to bring everyone back to earth.
"I remember there were times when we would win games and then we'd go in the locker room and we didn't enjoy it," Barrett said Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days. "That was something that I remember Josh stopped us, I can't remember which game, but I remember Josh Perry saying 'We won a game. Quit acting like we lost.'"
On a team that returned 16 starters and brimmed with NFL talent like Ezekiel Elliott, Michael Thomas, Darron Lee, Eli Apple and Joey Bosa all led by Urban Meyer, talk of it potentially being one of the best in college football history swirled heavily above Columbus. When things didn't go as perfectly dominant as some thought they should and final scores were not 50-0, grumbling mounted.
"We had so many great players, you knew that there was so much you could have done. I guess it was kind of a disappointment even with each other," Barrett said. "That was the thing, our expectations were so high on ourselves that not even disregarding what other people were saying about us, but thinking about what we could do.
"It was like, I guess a part of it was ourselves and knowing that we had all this talent and sometimes we should have beat teams by, let's be real, 30. But we didn't. That's just being real. It was really trying to figure out, 'Why didn't that happen?' So we're asking ourselves why that didn't happen."
Meyer experienced it once during his time at Florida during the 2009 season, when the Gators returned a mess of starters from a BCS National Championship squad. Like the Buckeyes, that Florida team lost late in the season — to eventual champion Alabama — but came back and routed Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl.
"I talked to a few of them, and it was a grind," Meyer said of guys like Barrett, who played significant roles in 2015 and are back this fall. "Nothing was ever good enough."
“You win a game by two touchdowns, and 'What happened? So-and-so got the ball more than I did. Throw the ball to Mike. Why didn't you get the ball to Zeke? Where's the tight end?'”– Urban Meyer
Like anything in big-time college athletics, it's a balance. Meyer built a machine in four seasons at Ohio State — a 50-4 record is nothing to gripe about.
But as always, people wanted more. That's when the fun stopped.
"You win a game by two touchdowns, and 'What happened? So-and-so got the ball more than I did. Throw the ball to Mike. Why didn't you get the ball to Zeke? Where's the tight end?'" Meyer said.
"Just win the damn game."
Meyer claimed that is gone ahead of the 2016 season, which makes sense: The Buckeyes only return six starters and have 44 freshmen and redshirt freshmen. He said camp will be a "free-for-all" in a fight for playing time.
Barrett owns one spot that won't be debated as the starting quarterback, but even that is different than last year. He had to fend of Cardale Jones to win back the job, then lost it to suspension for an OVI citation on Halloween. Not easy after the 2014 season when he finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and Ohio State won the national title.
"That’s a lot. Being in the position he is, after all he’s done in 2014, it’s a lot to go through," center Pat Elflein said of Barrett. "You could kind of tell toward the end of the year you could pick it up and everyone started to pick it back up and started to finish the season off right. Kind of saw a little bit of that 2014 in that whole team."
The Buckeyes routed Michigan 42-13 and downed Notre Dame 44-28 in the Fiesta Bowl to finish 12-1 in a season meant for much, much more. But they had fun beating the Wolverines and Fighting Irish, even though the loss to Michigan State crippled their College Football Playoff chances.
Meyer and his three captains all mentioned the 2014 season Tuesday. They hope the same vibe surrounds the Woody Hayes Athletic Center as the Buckeyes enter 2016 with a young team. For Barrett, his run two years ago came because he didn't think. He just played, but he did his best not to let his teammates down.
"I remember in 2014, it was a relief when we won. It was just like, 'Whew. All right.' Just myself going throughout each week," Barrett said. "Now, I feel like being older and understanding it does take so much to win games that I do sometimes need to step back and relax."
After all, Perry now plays for the San Diego Chargers. An outstanding senior class is gone and unable to provide a necessary reality check. Barrett and his teammates must do that on their own now.
"Even if it's that little time before we start practice on a Sunday. Just take a little time off," Barrett said. "Understand that this is a grind, six months out of the year it's all ball. So you need to appreciate doing things right as far as winning goes."
