Letdowns are relative.
Last year, Ohio State had a letdown the week following a dramatic win over Penn State and lost 55-24.
I’m sure you remember. The Buckeyes went to Iowa still sleepy-eyed and worn down from the exertion a week earlier and they were completely dismantled.
On Saturday, Ohio State had another letdown the week following a dramatic win over Penn State and came away with a 49-26 win over Indiana.
Defensively, the Buckeyes gave up over 300 yards of total offense in the first half, and offensively, OSU turned the ball over four times, including once on downs.
However, to paraphrase head coach Urban Meyer after the game, if that’s a letdown and you still won by nearly four touchdowns, then the Buckeyes are a pretty darn good football team.
And he’s right, but so are those who were calling this game a letdown.
But this wasn’t just a letdown game for the players, it was also a letdown by the coaches and the fans.
For instance, one week after seeing a nation ridicule Penn State for running the ball on fourth-and-5 to end the game, we saw OSU offensive coordinator Ryan Day run the ball up the middle on third-and-9. This was Ohio State’s first drive and the play took place on Indiana’s 39-yard line and it was likely a play called with the assumption they would go for it on fourth down after a 5- or 6-yard gain, but when you have Dwayne Haskins and seven willing receivers, why?
Instead, Mike Weber got the carry, fumbled the ball, and the Hoosiers recovered.
Then there was the Ohio State defense being forced to call three timeouts in the first quarter. After the game, defensive coordinator Greg Schiano said he’s probably done that before in his 30-odd years of coaching, but couldn’t remember a time off hand.
All three timeouts were called for different reasons.
“It was kind of three different circumstances,” he said. “It’s not something you’re very proud of to use those timeouts like that. One time was a substitution issue. One time I just didn’t like the call we were in. I thought early in the game don’t give up the big play.”
The fans, meanwhile, watched and politely did little else.
Meyer thanked the fans after the game, as he always does, but there were plenty of tweets and message board posts asking why the crowd was so quiet.
Being in the press box with the windows closed, I couldn’t really hear anything, which would tend to prove the point of those complaining about the lack of noise.
For Buckeye fans, there is nothing so definite as Indiana being a win. As such, they can be expected to be a bit tame in the noise department.
But even for the fans, following a come-from-behind win like the Buckeyes had last week can apparently bring a week-long exhaustion.
Perhaps quarterback Dwayne Haskins was speaking for everyone after the game — players, coaches, and fans.
“I’m not going to lie, we probably are still tired from last week,” he said. “Definitely was a little low in energy during the practice during the week. But best thing about today, we found a way to win. Even though it wasn’t pretty at all times throughout the game, football is about overcoming adversity.”
Every single player on the team heard from their coaches last week about avoiding a letdown. The words “the Iowa game” were playing on a loop inside the mind of every last Buckeye.
Haskins said energy at practice could have been better, but maybe he was just speaking of the offense. Both Schiano and middle linebacker Tuf Borland said the energy for the defense the last week was great.
Of course, since this defensive performance wasn’t atypical this season, maybe there was no letdown on that side of the ball. After all, nothing we saw on Saturday was new. The Ohio State defense did respond well in the second half, but the first half was a mess. Was that a letdown of game planning?
I do think, however, that the players would have been better off if the coaches and fans were as focused on not having a letdown as they were.
Fans read about it, coaches talked about it, and it would appear both parties forgot to apply the words they had heard and said all week long.
There is a reason why after every big win, players and coaches are asked about the possibility of a letdown the following week. It’s real. Defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones said it was tough to bounce back and regroup after the Penn State game. Those games drain players, and they apparently drain coaches and fans.
Then, when you compound that by playing a team that hasn’t beaten the Buckeyes since the ’80s, you can start to see why maybe the amperage wasn’t where it needed to be.
But all is not lost.
This was still a 23-point win against a team that is likely to be going to a bowl game this season.
The Buckeyes put up over 600 yards of total offense and held the Hoosiers to 89 yards of offense in the second half. Those are impressive numbers by any measure.
If this was a letdown — and it was — then Urban Meyer will take nine more just like it this season and go home very, very happy.