Ohio State's ESPYs Appearance Marks The Final Chapter Of Its Storybook 2014 Season

By Tim Shoemaker on July 15, 2015 at 10:10 am
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Ohio State’s run to the 2014 national championship is well-documented. The Buckeyes captured the nation’s attention as they won their final three games despite being underdogs in all three and did so with a guy who was the third-string quarterback in August.

The story has been told over and over again, and will continue to be told for years to come in Columbus.

But as quarterbacks Cardale Jones and Braxton Miller, running back Ezekiel Elliott, linebacker Joshua Perry and head coach Urban Meyer headed out to Los Angeles on Tuesday for Wednesday night’s annual ESPY awards show — where Ohio State is up for the Best Team award and Jones and Meyer are up for individual honors — it’s time to officially close the book on what was a storybook season for the Buckeyes.

“As far as everything around here, we’ve definitely put last year in the past and we’re really just working toward next year,” Perry said Tuesday prior to heading to the airport for Los Angeles. “We’ve got a new team and a new legacy to build. We’ve got something to grind for and we haven’t proven anything yet so we gotta keep that in mind.”

Meyer and Ohio State’s players have been quite busy this summer. They’ve made appearances all across the country and have taken full advantage of their ability to further promote the program. All of that comes with winning a national title.

But despite the constant distractions, the team has remained focused on turning its attention toward the upcoming season, one which the Buckeyes will enter as the preseason No. 1 team in the country and are heavy favorites to repeat as national champions.

“You just gotta know what's more important. You gotta put the work first,” Elliott said of the balancing act. “Obviously we don't get to miss workouts. We've done our makeup workouts on Saturday mornings and Coach Mick definitely makes sure he keeps us off our pedestal.”

“I think we're a really focused team and our leaders do a really a good job of making sure that guys stay on track,” Perry added. “The biggest thing for us is we have to block out a lot of what's coming from outside. That's positive and negative because we hear a little bit of everything and we kinda just trust what's going on in the building.”

And while the Buckeyes insist they’ve turned the page on the 2014 season and are now focused on the 2015 campaign, it seems as if Wednesday’s ESPYs will be the final chapter in the story.

After all, Ohio State’s season-opener at Virginia Tech is less than two months away. The Buckeyes will look to avenge their only loss from the 2014 season on Labor Day in Blacksburg, Va.

The preparations for that game have already begun.

“We worked on a lot of that no-deep stuff, Bear no deep in spring ball, but obviously we’re watching film and stuff already,” Elliott said. “We’re just ready for the season.”

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