Ohio State vs. Wisconsin, in Indianapolis, 8:17 p.m. Saturday, FOX, 1410
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer had just experienced one of the worst stretches in his coaching career and started to put it behind him Monday.
One of his star defensive players, Noah Spence, was declared permanently ineligible by the Big Ten last week. Meyer didn’t agree with that decision.
Then a walk-on defensive lineman, Kosta Karageorge, disappeared. He was found dead Sunday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.
In between all that, the Buckeyes (11-1) beat their rival Michigan 42-28 Saturday but lost starting quarterback J.T. Barrett to a season-ending broken ankle.
Somehow Meyer, while still shocked and stunned by the death of Karageorge, found himself in a good mood Monday. That’s because he got to see 40 or more players that morning around the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. They would ask him, “How’s it going?” He would put his arm around them.
“That’s what makes a coach’s day,” Meyer said. “That’s what gets families through tough situations.”
When Meyer arrived at Ohio State, running backs coach Stan Drayton told him he wouldn’t like having the practice facility off campus. The Woody Hayes Athletic Center isn’t far from campus and Ohio Stadium, but it’s far enough. Meyer doesn’t like only seeing his players in meeting rooms and on the practice field. He had to create a reason for the players to come to the facility for more than practice.
Ohio State turned the locker room and the lounge area into a place the players wanted to be. Meyer made sure the food was good enough to lure them to the facility.
“It’s a much different atmosphere,” Meyer said. “They’re always over here.”
That will help Meyer judge how well the Buckeyes are dealing with all the adversity this week as they prepare for the Big Ten championship game at 8:17 p.m. Saturday against Wisconsin in Indianapolis. He wasn’t willing to say the adversity gives the Buckeyes an advantage but did say, “Adversity at times, if it’s a real close group, it sometimes brings them closer together.”
The Badgers are a four-point favorite. When asked if he would use that as motivation, Meyer said he didn’t know because he didn’t realize until that moment they were the underdogs.
“It’s news to me, too,” defensive coordinator Luke Fickell said. “I had no idea. I guess it’s just part of the game. It doesn’t change the way I think about anything. It is what it is. That’s one man’s opinion. The reality is Saturday at 8 o’clock, both of us have to play. It’ll come down to throwing and running and tackling, and that’s not going to change.”
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