Urban Meyer rarely is even in a position where he has to start coming up with words to say to his team after a loss. In fact, he says it only happened once since he took the head coaching job at Ohio State.
“This is the only other one that's been like that that I can recall, that every indicator was up that we lost the game,” Meyer said on Monday. “At Penn State, the story was told.”
After blowing a 17-0 lead, Ohio State rallied to defeat the Nittany Lions in October of 2014 in double overtime. Christian Hackenberg led a charge and forced overtime in front of a wild crowd and the stadium's annual White Out. Penn State took a touchdown lead in the first overtime session before two J.T. Barrett touchdown runs and a walk-off sack by Joey Bosa kept the Buckeyes in the Big Ten East race.
As close as it was to winning, it nearly went the other way for Ohio State.
“The script was written,” Meyer said. “I just remember thinking what am I going to say to this team afterwards? It crossed my mind.”
Ohio State left State College and eventually won the Big Ten and National Championship in 2014. Meyer often references that game as the season's turning point, when his team grew together and rebounded in a special way to escape in triumph.
The Buckeyes did something similar this past Saturday at Wisconsin, a victory Meyer puts on the same level in terms of resiliency on his team's part as the Penn State game two years ago.
“So the script was written. I just remember thinking what am I going to say to this team afterwards? It crossed my mind.”– Urban Meyer on Penn State in 2014
Ohio State returns to State College, Pennsylvania, on Saturday for you guessed it: A White Out. Therein lies the challenge.
“We have another tough task, a team that's 4-0 at home. I called it—the last two times, wish they saved the white outs for other games, but I guess they used it for our game,” Meyer said. “It's one of the top five atmospheres, again, in college football.”
Meyer credits Barrett for taking control at Penn State in 2014 when he played through a sprained MCL and a mistake that gave the Nittany Lions six points to open the second half on a pick-six. But Barrett stared at his head coach that night and said, "I'm not coming out of the game" after his injury. Meyer still brings that up.
“He kind of just took it on his shoulders,” Meyer said. “I get to see things that all fans do not get to see. I get to see him about six inches from my face and see the intensity and the focus and the human spirit that is as good as I've ever been around.”
“I think it was one of those things, just a little adversity. I guess you could say at that time that was my edge,” Barrett said, who ran for 75 yards that night and only threw for 74. “See how far I could go because my knee was hurting. But understanding that I didn't want to come out of the game. I knew I could still and have the ability to make plays.”
The Nittany Lions are, like Wisconsin, coming off an open weekend before they welcome the Buckeyes to Beaver Stadium. James Franklin's group is 4-2, with wins against Minnesota and Maryland in its last two outings. It is not on the same level as Wisconsin this season but State College is never an easy place to play with more than 100,000 screaming fans in the stands.
“They was going crazy off that (Sweet Caroline). I want them to play it again. I'm going to dance to it this time,” junior defensive end Jalyn Holmes said on Monday. “Like the one at Wisconsin, we were jumping right with the crowd, for real. That's what I remember, the crowd. They just had high energy that entire game.”
Dontre Wilson said on Monday Penn State is the loudest place he has ever played. Holmes and Chris Worley echoed that. And while he was the difference against the Nittany Lions two years ago, Barrett remembers his team taking a massive step forward above all else.
“Just one of those things that you have to fight through it mentally and luckily with guys help I was able to do that,” Barrett said. “I would say I grew up in that aspect but I think as a team, as whole, we grew up also.”
Night games bring a different kind of energy regardless where they are played, and often cause the road team to lose a day in preparation and recovery for the following week. Ohio State didn't return to Columbus until around 5 a.m. Sunday from Wisconsin. As such, Meyer gave the team a day off and shifted its normal practice that day until Monday. The same thing is likely to happen this weekend after the Penn State game.
Barrett's legs led Ohio State to a win at Penn State in 2014.
“We changed our whole schedule,” Meyer said. “We're going to have a team meeting, evaluate, get rid of all the film, and then they're going to go out and just do a quick 15-minute with coach Mick (Marotti) and us. We're going to run them a little bit and get them out.”
Then Tuesday hits and the work week moves quickly. Penn State doesn't—at least on paper—look to be as strong a team as Wisconsin but does have Saquon Barkley at tailback. Meyer believes he is a first-round NFL talent, remembering how he ran for 194 yards on his team as a freshman last year in a game Ohio State won handily 38-10. Barkley is tied for the Big Ten lead with eight rushing touchdowns in 2016.
State College is a difficult place to win under the lights. Ohio State barely did it two years ago and escaped Madison last weekend with a victory. Meyer is 20-0 in true road games as head coach of the Buckeyes. This week's challenge is different, however, preparing his roster to embark on its second of back-to-back road contests under the lights.
“Got to get them healthy, get them rested,” Meyer said. “Another team with a bye week, night game, and get them ready to go.”
