With National Picture Before It, Ohio State Intends to Walk Line Between Confidence and Conceited

By Patrick Maks on October 20, 2014 at 4:00 pm
Ohio State's rolling, and it intends to walk a line between being confident and being cocky.
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Upon a demolition of Rutgers, Ohio State’s players and coaches spoke of a necessary repulsion to complacency in what’s become a pillage of sorts back into college football’s national picture.

Since a stunning loss to Virginia Tech, the Buckeyes — which were left to deal with the sudden loss of star quarterback Braxton Miller and considerable inexperience elsewhere — are a different team than the one that started the season unsure of itself or what it could be.

In disemboweling its last four challengers — including a 56-17 rout of the Scarlet Knights Saturday — the offense is churning at a historically-efficient rate. The defense, which entered as mystery, isn’t the same porous unit that unraveled last year. The special teams, which Meyer obsesses over, are sound.

And because of this, the Buckeyes swell with momentum entering a three-game stretch of nighttime bouts that could determine whether it belongs in an intensifying postseason conversation.

To pass through it successfully, they intend to walk a fine between between being self-assure and being conceited.

“Our guys know that we’re good and we’re confident, but we’re not so cocky that we’re going to overlook anybody or want to skip ahead to any games,” junior linebacker Joshua Perry said. “I think that the makeup that we have right now is really good for us to continue to be successful, but not overlook anything.”

Since that is often easier said than done, head coach Urban Meyer — who’s mastered using self-deprecation as motivation — has turned into one of his team’s biggest critics with a critical road trip to Penn State looming.

“We did not play great Saturday,” he said Monday. “We expect to play great."

It’s hard to believe Meyer wasn’t pleased with Ohio State’s domination of Rutgers, though: the Buckeyes amassed at least 50 points and 500 yards for the fourth-straight game and dismantled quarterback Gary Nova — who Meyer insisted his team had to disarm.

Yet, with days to reflect and marinate in arguably the best win of the season, Meyer acts like Ohio State won unimpressively in a squeaker. The offense, he said, isn’t up to snuff.

“The last two weeks,” he said, “we haven't played as good offensively as we expect.” And against the Nittany Lions, who rank in the top five for total and scoring defense, “that will really surface this week?”

Added Perry: “We all know that we’re not as good as we could be right now and that’s the kind of interesting thing. We’ve been playing really well and we’ve been beating teams by a lot, but we’ve still got a way to go … I think that’s what he’s excited about, and that’s why he’s grinding us so hard.”

Plus, with a night games comes extra attention from across the country. The spotlight, which left Ohio State after it lost to the Hokies, has found its way back. The Buckeyes, which say they’re worthy of fitting on belonging on the national stage, must take advantage of it.

“Definitely that’s what you try to do in these games, is you go out there and you want to play your best in front of the big crowds and the big arenas and you know the situations where the lights are on,” Perry said.

For an Ohio State team that might be hurt by its strength of schedule in a mediocre Big Ten, it’s a chance to make a statement.

“We would like to win impressively … whether that’s a blowout or whether that’s putting up enough points to beat the other team, we want to go in there and be impressive but we have to get the win.”

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