COLUMBUS, Ohio — This year marks the 10th anniversary of Coach Urban Meyer’s first year at Ohio State in which the team went 12-0 for their last perfect season. Expectations were low coming off a losing season, but the team would surprise even their most loyal fans.
What You Need To Know
- 2022 marks the 10th anniversary of Coach Urban Meyer’s first season as head football coach at The Ohio State University
- Despite sanctions that prohibited the team from playing a bowl game, many consider the season worthy of a national title
- A series of close wins earned the team the nickname “The Luckeyes”
“They beat Michigan State in East Lansing, 17-16, and that was the turning point,” Columbus Dispatch sports reporter Bill Rabinowitz said. “Before that game, they had a team meeting and Urban Meyer holds this ‘championship water’ … drink from the water and we will be champions … and they all bought in.”
In his first season with the Buckeyes, Meyer brought a new level of discipline and focus to the team.
“You could argue that they were playing with house money; in other words, there wasn’t a lot of pressure,” Columbus Dispatch sports columnist Rob Oller said.
Oller suggests that without the possibility of a bowl game, the team felt more free to take chances and play loose.
In 2012, the Buckeyes were barred from competing in a bowl game, the result of sanctions imposed by the NCAA for failing to monitor player violations under coach Jim Tressell.
“It’s the only time in Ohio State football history that a coach has led Ohio State to a perfect record in his first season,” Sports Historian Jack Park said.
The Stadium at 100 is part of a series of special coverage created by Spectrum News and the Columbus Dispatch to honor Ohio State University’s historical football stadium.
