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ATLANTA — Out of its lowest moment of the season came clarity for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Raw emotions. Honesty. Hard conversations that were long overdue.
It all came spilling out in a players-only meeting on the Tuesday after Ohio State’s devastating loss to Michigan in the final weekend of the regular season. The Buckeyes, a 21-point home favorite over the Wolverines, imploded in a loss that gave critics even more ammunition to aim at embattled head coach Ryan Day.
A loss to eventual national champion Michigan last season was crushing yet understandable. A loss to a then-6-5 mediocre Wolverines team was inexcusable on every level.
But the pain of that moment — and the indelible image of senior leader Jack Sawyer fighting to wrest away a Michigan flag from being planted at midfield — was exactly what Ohio State needed, especially if it gets the job done in Monday night’s College Football Playoff National Championship against Notre Dame.
Winning can cover up a lot of flaws just barely hiding beneath the surface. A loss like the Michigan one prompts real soul-searching at the deepest cores of everyone involved within the program.
“There were a lot of emotions during that meeting,” Ohio State right tackle Josh Fryar told CBS Sports. “It was good for us because I think everybody got everything out they wanted to say. I think it was good to see raw emotion on players’ faces because it was satisfying to show that everybody cares.”
Said Jack Sawyer: “It got heated in moments, and then it all came together pretty good at the end. We ended with a team prayer and knew we had to get to work.”
Fryar said the team had been afraid to let that raw emotion out before the Michigan loss. The pain of the defeat vocalized in…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/inside-the-players-only-meeting-after-michigan-loss-that-saved-ohio-states-season-it-got-heated-in-moments/
Author : John Talty
Publish date : 2025-01-18 23:15:00
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