Changes hit Buckeyes hard

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Every Sunday night after a win, Ohio State’s players and coaches get to enjoy a sumptuous buffet of steak, lobster or shrimp.

After a 35-21 loss at home to Virginia Tech, the menu was downgraded.

“We still ate dinner. It just wasn’t the same quality of food,” running backs coach Stan Drayton said, grimacing. “I don’t remember [what it was]. I just remember swallowing something.”

For the record, the Buckeyes were fed spaghetti and mashed potatoes.

A lot has changed for the Buckeyes — beyond the cuisine — since suffering their first defeat in a home opener in 36 years and having a 25-game regular-season winning streak ended by the Hokies. It all played out before an Ohio Stadium-record 107,517 fans.

The switch in the menu was meant to send a message.

“That’s something that I don’t really enjoy and something I cannot get used to,” safety Tyvis Powell said of the meal.

A lot of things around the Ohio State team were hard to swallow this weekend.

The Buckeyes plummeted 14 spots to No. 22 in the latest AP Top 25 and head into a home game on Saturday with Kent State hoping to regain a degree of equilibrium since being thoroughly outplayed on both sides of the ball and on special teams.

“We’ve just got to move forward,” third-year head coach Urban Meyer said. “That was the first [loss] we’ve had during the regular season, so there is no victory meal for our players. I can tell they’re hurting. So we get to hurt the rest of the day.”

Meyer, his assistants and players all said the mistakes were minor, fixable errors. Yet there were glaring problems on the offensive line, at receiver and on defense.