The Ohio State Buckeyes must go back to the drawing board after losing their first game of the season in the conference title game against the Indiana Hoosiers last Saturday, 13-10.
Although the Buckeyes are the defending national champions, former coach Urban Meyer said the last thing the Buckeyes should be doing is pouting.
"I used to say there’s a big difference between coaching grown ass men in that locker room to young guys," Meyer said. "You’re going to find out. The template is there, but I don’t know enough about this team. There’s been zero adversity. This is it. This is it for them, so I’m anxious to watch.”
Meyer added the big discrepancy between this year's team and last year's team is simple: experience.
“You can say the template is set because they did it last year,” Meyer said. “After the horrible loss to the Wolverines, they rallied back. Here’s the difference, Brady [Quinn], last year’s team was the most veteran team in college football. That’s not the case this year. You’ve got a young quarterback. Remember last year you had senior Will Howard, you had a senior-laden group."
Therefore, quarterback Julian Sayin will have to step up in a big way.
"First off, can't turn the ball over early in the game like that and put our defense in a bad spot," Sayin said after the loss Saturday night. "I ended up giving up points for that. Those points are me."
The Buckeyes will await their opponent in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, earning the No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff.