Urban Meyer kept looking at Gene Smith for a sign, a look, anything that might soothe his nerves.
The Ohio State coach had invited Smith, the Buckeyes’ athletic director, and some friends to his house in Dublin to watch the televised selection yesterday afternoon of the four teams for the inaugural College Football Playoff.
Meyer coached Florida to Bowl Championship Series national championships in 2006 and ’08. Before those selection shows, Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley had gotten advance notice that the Gators had been selected.
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Meyer figured Smith also had gotten a tip from someone, perhaps Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, about whether the Buckeyes’ 59-0 steamrolling of Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game would be enough to propel them from No. 5 into one of the coveted four spots.
“I said, ‘What do you have?’ ” Meyer recalled. “He said the commissioner doesn’t even know. I thought he was going to wink or give me a thumbs up.”
Instead, Smith could offer nothing. After Alabama, Oregon and Florida State were revealed as the first three teams, Meyer expected a commercial break to extend the drama.
He was looking down for a moment when Ohio State flashed on the screen, setting up a Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl matchup in New Orleans against Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide of Alabama.
“It popped up and everybody in the house went nuts,” Meyer said.
So did the Buckeyes players scattered on or near campus. Senior cornerback Doran Grant watched with his roommates Devin Smith, Curtis Grant and Chase Farris.
When Ohio State’s name was revealed, he said, he raised his hand in triumph. He said Smith, a wide receiver who caught three touchdown passes on Saturday, ran down the stairs. He joked that Farris, a lineman, “came stumbling downstairs.”
The Buckeyes certainly didn’t stumble into the playoff spot. Meyer acknowledged yesterday that in August, he believed that his team was a year away.
Ohio State’s chances looked doomed at several points: when quarterback Braxton Miller reinjured his shoulder during training camp, when the Buckeyes lost to Virginia Tech in the second week of the season and when quarterback J.T. Barrett fractured his ankle against Michigan, causing the team to turn to untested Cardale Jones against Wisconsin. Then last week, OSU had to endure news of the tragic death of defensive lineman Kosta Karageorge.
Even heading to Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday, the Buckeyes’ chances looked dim. They got no help from upsets of teams then ranked ahead of them. Their statement against favored Wisconsin would have to carry an exclamation point.
“We went in there thinking to give our best effort,” Doran Grant said. “There was a certain point in the game when it was like, ‘OK, now we need to go get these style points,’ and that’s what we did.”
The Buckeyes were confident after the game that they would be picked, but it was no sure thing. Big 12 co-champions TCU and Baylor each had compelling resumes. In the end, playoff committee chairman Jeff Long said, OSU’s domination of Wisconsin made them the clear choice.
Linebacker Curtis Grant said: “You look at the teams, and we had a championship game and the other two were sharing a championship. Which team would you go with?
“I knew we were going to get in,” Grant added. “I don’t know how, but I just knew we were going to get in. What number are we going to be? That was my main focus.”
The Buckeyes have played in New Orleans twice in recent years. They lost to LSU in the BCS title game seven years ago. Four years ago, they beat Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl — but that victory has been expunged because of the tattoo-and-memorabilia scandal that cost coach Jim Tressel his job five months later.
Now, against all odds, Meyer has brought the Buckeyes back.
Brabinowitz@dispatch.com
@brdispatch
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