It wasn’t just the 35-21 loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday night that left a bad taste in the mouths of Ohio State’s players and coaches.The Sunday evening team meal didn't taste right, either.
“It’s something that I really didn’t enjoy and something I can’t get used to,” safety Tyvis Powell said. “Spaghetti and meatballs.”
'Victory dinner' has been a tradition for the Buckeyes since Urban Meyer was hired as head coach prior to the 2012 season. But for the first time since Meyer took over the program, Ohio State lost a home game and thus didn’t get their fancy dinner that Powell said usually consists of steak, shrimp and/or lobster.
Just plain old spaghetti and meatballs.
Frankly, the performance the Buckeyes put on Saturday night in front of the largest-ever crowd at Ohio Stadium was probably only worthy of just that.
“Tough loss against a very good team. We've just got to move forward," Meyer said. "First one we've had during the regular season, so there is no victory meal for our players. I can tell they're hurting, so we get to hurt the rest of the day (Monday), and then coaching staff and players need to move forward and try to get our second win."
Meyer and the Buckeyes have lost three of their last four games dating back to last season, but those are the only three games he’s lost as Ohio State’s head coach.
Saturday’s loss was the first regular-season one in Meyer's stint at Ohio State and thus marks the first time the Buckeyes have a quick turnaround and have to play a game the next week. When they lost to Michigan State, they had a lengthy period before they played Clemson in the Orange Bowl, and when they lost to the Tigers in Miami, they had and entire offseason to forget about the game.
Not this year. The Buckeyes will host a winless Kent State team Saturday.
“You’ve definitely gotta get it out of your system right away. You can’t sit back and dwell on it," Powell said. "After I get done with this, I’m gonna go in there and get me a massage and then focus on Kent State because that’s what’s next. I can’t sit back and think about this Virginia Tech game because I don’t have time to."
The Buckeyes have watched their film against the Hokies, but now they insist they've shifted the focus of the team toward an 0-2 Kent State team which has losses on the season to Ohio and South Alabama.
"What happened on Saturday happened. We can’t press rewind and change the end result of that, but we can learn from that and we will learn from that," running backs coach Stan Drayton said. "Sure, it’s frustrating, but it really exposed the things that we need to work on.”
What exactly are those, though?
For starters, Ohio State's offensive line needs to play better as it allowed seven sacks against Virginia Tech — six of those coming in the fourth quarter. The Buckeyes' receivers also need to do a better job of getting open for redshirt freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett.
Defensively, Ohio State needs to improve on third down. The Hokies converted 9-of-17 third-down chances in Saturday's game.
Improve on those things against Kent State, a team Ohio State should handle, and it might ease the minds of fans going into a game against a tough Cincinnati team two weeks later and then into the Big Ten season.
"Everything we're shooting for is playing for championships in November, and that's still right at our disposal," Meyer said. "I mean, we've got a heck of a long way to go, but you put your heart and your mind into that of a 19‑year‑old, and everything's still there, and I see that. Look, they're still hurting. They'll take our lead and take my lead and I'm still hurting, so we'll be ready by (Monday night), get it out of our system and go."
