Ohio State Still Suffering Urban Hangover

Ohio State suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday night at the hands of the Purdue Boilermakers. Many blame the poor defensive showing or the one-dimensional offense but what many aren’t blaming is the lingering Urban hangover from this summer’s scandal.

In the Summer news broke about Urban Meyer receiving a suspension but once the news was finally announced many were able to focus on football. It had appeared after the TCU victory that Ohio State was back to business as usual and the noise around Urban Meyer seemed to become more and more football related as the weeks passed and the victories piled up. The only inkling of something wrong was an ever-growing sense of confusion about the running game and the defense’s penchant to give up chunk plays. 

But to the careful observer, there were other signs that things were not all well off the field. During the Indiana game, Urban Meyer could be seen bent over in pain with a stressed look on his face. Meyer later commented that he suffers from intense headaches and has suffered these since his days at Florida. He has suffered these health issues since his days at Florida, where he eventually left for health and family reasons.

Perhaps it is merely an old issue that has reappeared, but it might just be that his suspension and the circumstances surrounding it that have take a toll on the veteran coach. It isn’t every day that you are dragged in front of the board of trustees to defend your actions and face possible removal from your job. According to some reports, president Drake actually wanted Urban fired. Being in front of the president of the university that you love and having him push for your firing can tax a man, even one as calm and collected as Urban.

Not only did this confrontational press conference affect Urban, it also affected Ohio State as they adjusted to a new style of offense under quarterback Dwayne Haskins. The team didn’t have its leader to help guide the team on this new offensive direction and coaches had to carry more burden than normal. Players waited to see if they would be able to play for the man that recruited them and dealt with the shame brought on by Zach Smith’s actions. Ohio State was able to win all of its games until Purdue, but the outlook on the season is now grim as Meyer may be under scrutiny for the on-field performance as well as his past mistakes with his staff.

One thing is for certain though, this isn’t the same Urban who was able to overcome a loss at Penn State in 2013 to go on to win a national championship. Whether or not he will be able to overcome unprecedented adversity to win the remaining games will depend on how his team and his staff can rebound from a tumultuous season and an even more chaotic summer. For now, it appears that the Buckeyes will need to dim the lights during the offseason and recuperate from their Urban hangover.