Meyer’s Buckeyes play with an edge

Urban Meyer has said almost from the beginning — and increasingly lately — that he wants his first Ohio State football team to play angry.

And why shouldn’t the Buckeyes play with an edge to their collective demeanor? They won’t get to play for a Big Ten championship and there will be no bowl game for these players, despite the fact none of them were implicated in the tattoo-and-memorabilia scandal.

In Meyer’s mind, the Buckeyes have a right to be angry. The new coach set the tone not long after he took the job, when he swayed some recruits who had made verbal commitments to other Big Ten Conference schools and convinced them Columbus was the place to be. That didn’t sit well with some of his new colleagues — Wisconsin’s Bret Bielema and Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio among them — but Meyer didn’t much care.

Ohio State’s helmets are still the same color they’ve always been, but it’s clear the Buckeyes — figuratively anyway — are going to wear black hats to work under their new coach.

They’re not breaking bad in the Walter White-Heisenberg sense, but two instances in Ohio State’s opener against Miami (Ohio) sent a clear message: Meyer is far less interested in winning friends and influencing people than he is in winning his players’ hearts and stepping on opponents’ throats.

Quarterback Braxton Miller hit Evan Spencer for a 44-yard completion to the RedHawks’ 1 with three seconds to play in the first half and the Buckeyes already leading, 21-3.

Jim Tressel probably calls a timeout and kicks a field goal if he’s still at Ohio State. Tressel would not have been alone. A lot of coaches would have taken the sure three.

Meyer? He might be allergic to field goals. He called a timeout and sent Miller and the offense back out to try to score a fourth second-quarter touchdown. It didn’t happen as tailback Carlos Hyde was stopped short, but a message was delivered.

Another came in the game’s final minute. The Buckeyes led, 49-10, by then and had driven from their own 12-yard line to a first-and-goal at the RedHawks’ 4. There is little doubt a Tressel-coached team would have taken a knee and trotted over to the open end of the Horseshoe to sing “Carmen Ohio.”

Meyer? He’d promised to continue that postgame tradition — a Tressel favorite — but there would be plenty of time to sing after Ohio State was finished scoring touchdowns. At the very least, the Buckeyes were going to force Miami to make a game-ending stop.

The RedHawks weren’t up to the task, just as they weren’t for most of the game once Ohio State channeled its anger.

This time, backup QB Kenny Guiton handed off to true freshman Brionte Dunn, who was stopped for no gain the first time, but took another handoff and bounced off a would-be tackler and into the end zone. It was a completely unnecessary touchdown, but it carried a message.

A significant part of the nation — especially outside Ohio — seem to view the Buckeyes as the bad guys.

Meyer isn’t averse to embracing that role. If that means trading a few field goals to try to get touchdowns, or giving players like Guiton and Dunn opportunities when the outcome is no longer in doubt, so be it.

Ed Puskas is The Vindicator sports editor. Write him at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter @edpuskas85.