Let’s put things in perspective. No one wins every game-no one , at some point a loss will occur-guaranteed. Urban has a total of five losses at Ohio State and not a single one was a blowout. In order to beat Ohio State, the opponent must fight tooth & nail to the finish. Urban’s team's average loss margin is a mere 7 points, in other words when we lose, we barely lose. No other team in college football has slimmer loss margins…. PERIOD. Remember, for example, we beat a highlty ranked offense/defense & Heisman candidate team Wisconsin by 59 points. All the current Top 20 programs in the nation have been routed at some/multiple times over the past five years. Not Ohio State! Why is this-well, In my opinion, I will tell you why. (continue below scores)
2013
Mich St ……..................34 Ohio State……24
Clemson…….................40 Ohio State……35
2014
Virginia Tech...................35 Ohio State…….21
2015
Mich St ………...............17 Ohio State.......14
2016
Penn St ………...............24 Ohio State…...21
Urban is the greatest hands on-in the moment coach in college football. He coaches tirelessly up to the last second of game play. It’s his energetic drive and ability to maintain a winning composure during the ENTIRE game that separates him from most coaches. He will never give up or show defeat and his mental toughness is contagious among his players and assistant coaches. I compare his determination for victory to the likes of General Patton & General MacArthur. I believe it’s a gift your born with. It's been with him his entire life in every second of every game (Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, Ohio State).
So, what does this have to do with the Penn State loss. Does anyone remember the VA TECH loss? It was that game that exposed the weaknesses and trouble spots within the team. The same thing just happened at PSU. The “O” line looked like a deer in headlights. Passing was somewhat out of sync, the DB’s were inches from making plays, tackling was poor at times & special teams crumbled. I would argue, we will never again see a missed extra point, blocked punt & field goal (TD) under Urban all in the same game.
Here is what everyone needs to consider. We basically sent our entire starting team to the NFL. These current young inexperienced starters lack “GAME WISDOM” Happy Valley was Halloween Valley to this rookie group. The wind, rain, constant crowd noise, ghostly white outfits and horrible field position shocked this group of young men. Psychologically, it was the perfect storm of adversity. However, this game matured them in such a way that will result in extreme confidence moving forward. Why is that, because they are great athletes(4/5 star) coached by the greatest coaches, AND..... once they review films and identify their weaknesses-the mistakes will be fixed. That is why Urban Meyer barely loses games and when he does it’s by the slimmest of margins. The missing spoke was the mental toughness of this young team and Penn State transitioned these boys to men. We just graduated boot camp Saturday night folks!
Do not under estimate this team going forward. The benefits from that loss far outweighed a victory. A true loss on the scoreboard forced the entire team, from coaches to players to rework the game plan, fix what is wrong and move on. No team in CFB is more capable of learning from mistakes and turning them into success then the great program of THE Ohio State Buckeyes.