Once upon a time, we lived in a sensible world, where people applauded excellence, like when their favorite football team won at least 70% of its games, competed in bowl games regularly, and won some sort of trophy every few years. It was a time when guys with names like Woody and Bo prowled the sidelines, usually battling each other for the right to win one of those trophies and go play in one of the larger bowl games of the time, which took (and still takes) place out in Pasadena, CA.
Now, times have changed.
The Buckeyes have won 11 of their 12 games this season and too many people are focusing on the 1 and not the 11. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’ve seen a number in the double digits of people calling for Urban Meyer to be fired for the heinous crime of not going undefeated in 2015, despite losing several key leaders on both sides of the ball and two offensive coaches. And if things break the right way this weekend, he could still win the national championship.
Championships are not a birthright. They are not something we’re entitled to as fans, no matter how much talent is on the roster.
The Buckeyes first won a national championship in 1942, with a 9-1 record. The next year, Ohio State went 3-6.
Woody Hayes is a revered figure among Ohio State fans. His Buckeye teams lost nine games and tied twice in his first three seasons before he went undefeated and won a national championship in 1954. Ohio State fans today wouldn’t have let Woody get to that fourth season after going 16-9-2 over three years. That 1954 championship was followed by a 7-2 campaign. In 1957, the Buckeyes won it again and then went 6-1-2 in 1958.
In 1968, the “super sophomores” team won another natty. Much like the 2014 Buckeyes, that squad was perceived to have been a year away. Ohio State went 8-1 in 1969, losing to Michigan and failing to repeat, although the team did get back to the summit in 1970. The team lost four games in 1971, finishing 6-4.
Jim Tressel's 2002 squad was the first Ohio State team to win a national championship in 32 years. It was also the first team in school history to win 14 games, going undefeated. But the Buckeyes were 11-2 the following season.
To call the season something other than a success says more about the speaker than about the 2015 OSU football team.
There are several reasons why it’s hard to repeat as champions, which is why expecting it to happen is a fool’s errand. Team mentalities change, injury luck isn't as good, focus is lost, chemistry is altered, leadership graduates or lands a promotion elsewhere, and everyone gives you their best shot. Opposing backup quarterbacks become Tom Brady and have the games of their lives. Players who chose other schools or were passed by for scholarship offers find that little extra bit of motivation.
And it should be harder in this day and age, because scholarship numbers are a level playing field. That wasn't always the case.
It’s statistically improbable to repeat as champion to the point where you should, in fact, expect the team not to repeat. The 2014 run was so amazing that it spoiled the season before it began because it spoiled us. The fact that it was so unexpected is the major reason why it was such a delight.
With so many returning starters, some people just assumed the title would simply stay in Columbus, as we apparently learned little from Florida State’s season the year before. Expectations were high, and I tried to warn people about this last July, when I said:
This team isn’t improbable anymore. The 2015 Buckeyes are probable. And that’s going to make this season a tremendously stressful one for me.
Apparently I’m not the only one, because my Twitter timeline is full of people who need to chill the hell out. At least I realize Ohio State has the right man at the helm — a guy who has four losses in four seasons.
Sure, like many of you I’m disappointed in the loss to Michigan State which could derail the shot at another championship. But it doesn’t “ruin” the season for me. I started attending games at the Shoe under “Ol’ 9-3 Earle” Bruce. This was a coach who obviously cared about his players, won a lot of games, and never had a losing season. This was a coach who was fired for his team’s performance. He won 75% of his games and finished two points shy of a national title during his tenure.
| Title Year | Record | Season After | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 | 9-1 | 1943 | 3-6 |
| 1954 | 10-0 | 1955 | 7-2 |
| 1957 | 9-1 | 1958 | 6-1-2 |
| 1961 | 8-0-1 | 1962 | 6-3 |
| 1968 | 10-0 | 1969 | 8-1 |
| 1970 | 9-1 | 1971 | 6-4 |
| 2002 | 14-0 | 2003 | 11-2 |
| 2014 | 14-1 | 2015 | 11-1* |
Bruce was replaced by John Cooper, who lost at least four games in each of his first three seasons, then lost three and tied one in his fourth. His highs were about as high as Earle’s first season, but his lows were much lower. Still, in the coaching profession, he is considered quite successful. He is a College Football Hall of Fame inductee (2008).
But we spoiled masses of the Scarlet & Gray are rending our garments and gnashing our teeth at an 11-1 season that may not result in a College Football Playoff spot. One of those 11 wins was the complete annihilation of arch-rival Michigan — a team that previous Urban Meyer squads struggled to put away, even when it wasn’t a Top 10 team, and a team that Cooper rarely bested.
It wasn’t that long ago when a trip to the Rose Bowl was the ultimate prize. This year, the Buckeyes may go to Pasadena for what many fans will consider a disappointing end result. For my money, the Rose Bowl (or Fiesta) is still one of the glittering jewels of college football. A season that ends in Pasadena will never be an unsuccessful one; simply a less-successful-than-we’d-like one.
It’s all about keeping things in perspective. The Ohio State Buckeyes entered this season with no guarantees of anything. They weren’t owed a second championship in as many years. They weren’t entitled to a spot in the final four. Their talent and their coach gave them an opportunity. But a lot has to go right to win a championship or to go undefeated. Meyer has been here four seasons and has accomplished each of these feats once already. Last year, the team was able to accomplish the former, but not the latter. This season, the former is looking doubtful and the latter is off the table.
But the team won 11 games this season and lost only once, to a Top 10 team on a night full of miserable weather — that great equalizer in football. Did you enjoy this season? Maybe you did; maybe not. But to call it something other than a successful year says more about the speaker — and their expectations, and perhaps their sense of entitlement — than about the 2015 OSU football team.
* So far
