When Ohio State gathers for meetings Monday afternoon at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, video from Urban Meyer's arguably biggest win to date as the program's head coach will spill across television screens.
"Later we're going to come in and watch the Oregon National Championship Game," senior captain and center Pat Elflein said. "Just because they run similar defenses and watching how hard we played that game. Trying to show Michael Jordan, Isaiah (Prince), how to play that hard. What better way than to actually watch it?
“This is definitely a step up in athleticism that we're going against as well. That's no disrespect to the first teams we played, but this is big boy football now.”– Greg Schiano
"We need to play like that Saturday if we want to win."
Saturday the Buckeyes travel to Norman, Oklahoma, for a primetime matchup with Bob Stoops and the No. 14 Sooners. Though Oklahoma's loss to Houston in its season opener removed some sparkle from Saturday's contest, the game still holds much more weight than Ohio State's previous two games of the 2016 season.
As such, Meyer and his staff did something they normally don't do on Sunday — they flipped on tape of Baker Mayfield and the explosive Sooners after the Buckeyes finished practice. That doesn't happen often.
"I know it has (picked up) because we watched film (Sunday) after practice. We had practice then watched 30 minutes worth of film," Marshon Lattimore said. "It's really our first big game. The two games we had already were big, but this is the big game."
Ohio State's defense did not allow a touchdown in 77-10 and 48-3 victories over Bowling Green and Tulsa to lead the Buckeyes to a 2-0 start. Though J.T. Barrett and the offense started slow against the Golden Hurricane and did not reach the end zone until the third quarter, the unit's onslaught overwhelmed Tulsa after a pair of pick-sixes by Malik Hooker and Marshon Lattimore.
But with respect to Dane Evans and James Knapke, neither is Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, who finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting a year ago.
"This is definitely a step up in athleticism that we're going against as well," co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Greg Schiano said. "That's no disrespect to the first teams we played, but this is big boy football now."
Meyer and Elflein likened Oklahoma's defense to the one the Buckeyes played against Alabama in the 2014 Sugar Bowl in terms of size. The Crimson Tide had more depth, but Oklahoma's group is a highly touted bunch and difficult to move.
"They're big, they play with their hands, play hard," Elflein said. "To get to go where we want to go to reach our goals we have to play well on Saturday. Kind of forces us to grow up a little bit. It's a big week of practice."
The Buckeyes obviously want to return to the Big Ten Championship Game and College Football Playoff. Though Saturday's game will only impact one of those things, it will move the needle with regards to how the rest of the country views Meyer's young team. That's why he wanted to take it a step further on Sunday and show his players Oklahoma tape earlier than normal. Plus, a majority of the roster is set to make the first road trip of its career.
Lattimore owns two of Ohio State's seven interceptions. Baker Mayfield has thrown zero.
"I'm glad we have two under our belt for the new guys to play a little bit, and got a lot of respect for the personnel," Meyer said. "We're facing a very good team."
"I think we got a lot of good reps, game reps with the past two games and also in training camp," Barrett added. "Just knowing that our practices are really hard and we do that for a reason and that’s to prepare for the games we’ve had and a game like this coming up."
The overarching theme from the players and coaches that spoke to the media Monday is that Ohio State isn't ready yet for Oklahoma, at least in terms of scheme. It doesn't have to be with five days between now and kickoff, but Meyer likes where his team stands after two games on the field before the showdown under the lights this weekend.
"I think we're further ahead than I thought we would be at this point," Meyer said.
To get even more ready, the Buckeyes plan to watch the national championship game and already dove into game tape of an explosive team that went to the College Football Playoff a year ago. Polls have Ohio State in the top-5, as they have all season except for the preseason Associated Press rankings, which had it sixth.
Saturday provides an opportunity to prove it.
"Of the talented teams, I think the two we've faced, they're both going to win games," Meyer said. "This one's real. Real real."
