"Very dramatic season": College football insider recalls Urban Meyer's Ohio State upstaging Penn State before crumbling to Clemson
Urban Meyer is one of the more popular names in college football. Meyer is a college football Hall of Famer after winning three national championships in his career.
He is remembered for his time as the coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes. While he won a national championship with the Buckeyes in 2014, Meyer was very close to making another BCS final game against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2016-17 season. But his side was handily dispatched by the Clemson Tigers in the semifinals.
While analyzing the biggest playoff controversies in college football history, Urban Meyer's 2016 Ohio State side readily came to mind. Greg McElroy said on 'Always College Football' on Wednesday:
"This was in 2016 when Ohio State was put in ahead of Penn State, even though Penn State beat Ohio State in the regular season. Remember, Washington also was in the mix. But the biggest controversy surrounded Penn State being on the outside as Big 10 champs, but with two losses, and Ohio State being on the inside, because they only had the one loss.
"Ohio State, because of that loss, wasn't able to participate in the Big 10 championship game."
McElroy continued:
"That was Penn State, who owned the head to head. Penn State won the Big 10. Penn State went on to play in the Rose Bowl game in a classic against SC, so it all worked out really well, but they lost two games in the first four games of the year. They started that season two and two. They lost a pit, they lost to Michigan.
"That loss to Michigan was a pretty significant black guy, I might add. They lost 49 to 10. But then they went on to rally to win eight straight games, including that win against Ohio State. And the head to head that year was ignored by the College Football Playoff committee."
He concluded:
"Why was it ignored? Because Penn State had two losses, both of which were in convincing fashion. Ohio State had one that was against Penn State, who returned a blocked field goal to the house for the game-winning score. So very dramatic season, very fun season to follow, and one that we still talk about regularly."
The season ended with the Buckeyes getting blown out by the Clemson Tigers in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl, also known as the CFP semifinal. The Tigers won 31-0, and it was arguably Meyer's most embarrassing loss.
What was Urban Meyer's legacy at Ohio State?
Urban Meyer arrived at Ohio State in 2011 as a two-time national champion with the Florida Gators. He left the Buckeyes with one more CFP national championship and absolute dominance over their archrivals, the Michigan Wolverines.
Meyer's winning percentage was 90.2 while coaching the Buckeyes. He won 83 games and lost just nine during his seven-year tenure.
Most Ohio State Buckeyes fans adore Urban Meyer, as he's arguably their most successful coach of the past decade. Meyer knew how to win, and he brought the culture to the Buckeyes. Hence, Urban Meyer's legacy at Ohio State will most likely be set in stone.