Billy Price remembers the first Ohio State game he played in that resulted in a loss.
It was back in September of 2014. Price was a redshirt freshman offensive lineman back then making just his second-career start. The Buckeyes allowed seven sacks as they fell to Virginia Tech at home, 35-21.
"It was kind of shocking, to be honest with you," Price recalled Monday. "To be part of it, to actually be playing, it's alarming. You're like, 'Wow, I wish I would have done this, I wish I would have done that.'"
It's a feeling a lot of Ohio State players are probably experiencing right now.
The Buckeyes fell to Penn State on Saturday, 24-21, for their first loss of the 2016 season and just the fifth in Urban Meyer's tenure as head coach. Under Meyer, losses have been rare in Columbus.
But with a team that had as much turnover as Ohio State did this offseason, this loss is a bit different than some others. The Buckeyes have 16 new starters and for them, this is the first time they've experienced a loss as a real contributing member of the team.
Sure, guys like Malik Hooker, Marshon Lattimore, Jamarco Jones and others were here when Ohio State lost to Michigan State last year or Virginia Tech the year before, but they weren't getting any snaps. This is different, and it's precisely why the Buckeyes are relying on their experienced players — guys like Price, quarterback J.T. Barrett, defensive end Tyquan Lewis and more — to assist with the rebound.
"The next week, you've gotta get hungry," Price said. "You've gotta get after it."
Meyer said Ohio State's coaching staff has already moved past the Penn State loss. To be honest, there really isn't much of a choice. The Buckeyes play Northwestern in five days and the Wildcats have won their last three games.
The mourning period has to be rather brief.
"It will be easier to flush it when I walk out of this room," Meyer joked.
This was just the fifth loss for Meyer at Ohio State. Only once was one of those losses followed up with another. That was back in 2013 when the Buckeyes lost to Michigan State in the Big Ten championship game and then fell to Clemson one month later in the Orange Bowl.
After falling to Virginia Tech in 2014, Ohio State blasted Kent State by 66 points the following week. After losing to Michigan State last season, the Buckeyes pounded archrival Michigan the next week, 42-13.
Those results mean nothing now, but players who have experience in such situations are going to play key roles this week for Ohio State.
"We’re going to find out what we’re made of," Barrett said. "Everybody can be doing fine when we’re winning games and everybody’s happy, cheering, but when our backs are against the wall, things are against us?"
"We lost, so I think it really shows your true character, your true colors.”
Added Lewis: "That’s the main thing moving forward: making sure guys are on the up and up. A loss is going to stick with you, but the thing is, can you move on from it? Can you get up and come back and go to work?"
After Saturday's loss, Meyer made sure to point out the fact that all of Ohio State's goals remain in front of it. The Buckeyes can still make the Big Ten championship game and, as a result, the College Football Playoff. There is plenty of work to do, but the season is not lost, either.
If Ohio State is going to get there, though, it will need the necessary response from a bunch of players who have never been in this type of situation before.
"Losing happens in football," Barrett said. "We do the best we can to prevent it, all the work we put in in the offseason and training camp so with that, we try to, of course, do our best and succeed and not lose."
"But losing happens and now it’s really — you go back to what we’re built upon and that’s toughness and going to work, grinding. I think that’s what we’re going to go back to and just try to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”
