COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Ohio State arrives in Bloomington for its matchup with Indiana this weekend, it will do so as college football’s defending national champion, the nation’s top-ranked team and the winner of its past 17 games—the country’s longest active winning streak. But when the Buckeyes take the field at Memorial Stadium for Saturday’s showdown with the Hoosiers, the players who were still a part of the team three years ago will be reminded not of their successes, but rather a program-defining day that helped put Urban Meyer’s program on the path to where it currently stands at the top of the college football nation. Ranking sixth in the nation in yards allowed per game with projected first-round picks at every level of the unit, Ohio State’s defense has been its strength through the first month of the 2015 season. The “Silver Bullets” also shined throughout the Buckeyes’ run to the national title a season ago, shutting down all three Heisman Trophy finalists—Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon, Alabama’s Amari Cooper and Oregon’s Marcus Mariota—in three consecutive postseason games. “The way our defense played at the end of last year was as good as I’ve ever seen,” Meyer said in August. Three years ago, however, such compliments from Ohio State’s head coach when it came to his defense were more difficult to come across. In 2012—Meyer’s first in Columbus—the Buckeyes defense simply didn’t deserve the accolades it receives today, with Meyer reaching his breaking point during a 52-49 road win over Indiana that pushed Ohio State to 7-0 on the season. And while he may not have realized it at the time, that breaking point would ultimately prove to be a turning point in his tenure as the Buckeyes head coach. “I remember it very well,” Meyer said of Ohio State’s last trip to Bloomington. “That was a program-changer.” SAM RICHE/Associated Press It wasn’t the closer-than-expected outcome that concerned Meyer, so much as it was the way it was arrived at. Favored by 19.5 points entering the contest, the Buckeyes jumped out to a 24-14 halftime lead behind big rushing days from then-quarterback Braxton Miller and running back Carlos Hyde. …
Continue Reading: The Game That Changed Urban Meyer’s Ohio State Forever
