“We’re not defending national champions because we’re not defending anything. They can’t take that trophy away. We’re looking to attack and win a championship with this team.” – Ryan Day. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Ohio State made a great run to the national championship in January, and a lot of the star players are gone. This year’s team doesn’t want to lean on that success. Caleb Downs and Sonny Styles said during Big Ten Media Days they are laying a new foundation and have something to prove.
Las Vegas, NV – How did Ohio State win the national championship in January?
Was it because the players who returned were Natty or bust? Was it because another loss to Michigan kicked them in the butt? Was it coaching? Was it simply talent?
Cases have been made for all the above. And all the above played a role.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State football and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
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Alas, it is a new season. Practice starts a week from Thursday. And the big-picture question is this: Can the Buckeyes repeat? And if they can, why? Coaches want to know the answer, but they must let the season play out, watch the story unfold.
There are always, it seems, more good questions than complete answers.
Here’s one answer. Winning championships, or at least being as good as possible, is a result of how good the team is in the day-to-day grind. On Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days, in a giant ballroom at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, safety Caleb Downs knew the answer to what is always required to prepare for the season. If head coach Ryan Day asked him to address the team on the first day of practice, this is what he would say.
“Attack every day with extreme intensity and focus,” he said. “Every day in camp is a needed day at camp. Even if you’re tired, even if you don’t feel like being here, go at every practice with intensity and focus. Because at the end of the day, when you look up and you’re about to play a game, you want to know you did everything to prepare.”
No coach would disagree. But coaches and team leaders like Downs and linebacker Sonny Styles aren’t always able to make the rank and file buy into the mission.
Linebacker Sonny Styles addresses reporters during Tuesday’s Big Ten Media Day in Vegas.
“We’re really just trying to stay focused on the future,” Styles said.
Don’t forget the past, but leave it there. The requirement for this team to be as good as it can be – national champion or not – is absolutely to move on from last year. That’s more difficult than it sounds. Most of them were a part of it. They have championship rings. They are asked about it by reporters, friends, family and every time they sign an autograph.
Ohio State, as any school would, hung photos and signs commemorating last year’s accomplishment in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Downs led an effort to have some of them taken down.
“It’s just putting ourselves back at zero, giving ourselves the opportunity to earn something new, to not have last year hanging over our head,” he said. “It’s just the opportunity to say we’re going to work for whatever we can work for this year, and we’re going to try to do the best that we can. That’s all that we can control.”
Since, the Buckeyes have been through spring practice and summer lifting and workouts. Downs sees the desired effect at work.
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“I feel like there’s a hunger,” he said. “We’ve worked out vigorously trying to get better, trying to better ourselves physically and mentally.”
The Buckeyes begin the season with an emotional rematch against Texas. Since spring practice, Day mentions how many days until Texas every time he speaks to the media. Tuesday was 39 days. The Buckeyes beat the Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl to reach the title game. Texas lost in its home state and will never erase the haunting memory of Jack Sawyer’s fumble recovery rumble for a backbreaking touchdown.
“A rivalry is a rivalry…we should still win that game. They (Michigan) don’t like us, and we don’t like them.” – OSU receiver Jeremiah Smith
“We actually talked about that the other day,” Downs said. “Emotions are going to be on 10 for the first game. You got to find a way to find what level your emotions need to be at when you’re playing. Because it doesn’t necessarily always need to be going at a full head of steam and I’m out of control. So just finding what mental space do you play your best at. Do I need to be more energized? Less energized?”
Emotions will also be high at the end of the regular season. The Buckeyes will travel north under the weight of a four-game losing streak to Michigan.
“Coach Day has done a good job this year talking about surrendering the outcome and not being afraid of losing, no fear and not cheating the goal,” Styles said. “Just going out and doing everything you can to achieve the goal.”
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Sophomore wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has experienced only one loss to Michigan. Yes, the Buckeyes won the national title. But one loss to the Wolverines is enough for him.
“A rivalry is a rivalry … we should still win that game,” he said. “I take every game very seriously. They don’t like us, we don’t like them. It’s a rivalry that’s been going on for a hundred-plus years. I want a pair of gold pants.”
Styles wants to build a new foundation and for this to be the season the Buckeyes achieve the goals of beating Michigan, winning the Big Ten and winning the national championship.
“We’re not living off last year’s hype,” he said. “We’re looking at it coming into this season that we’ve got something to prove every day and put a chip on our shoulder. I think a lot of people are doubting us a little bit because we lost a lot of great players. For a lot of people, their time’s finally here. They’re hungry. They’re excited to go prove something.”
Day loves that kind of talk. Now can his team continually develop and maintain that mindset? Can they grind every day and, as Downs said, practice with great intensity and focus no matter what? Day, always one to say players must prove it on the field, believes it is possible.
“The team that we have currently wants to leave their own legacy behind, and they made that clear a week after the national championship game,” he said. “We’re not defending national champions because we’re not defending anything. They can’t take the trophy away. We’re looking to attack and win a championship with this team.”
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