Urban Meyer blasts narrative that Michigan loss puts an asterisk on Ohio State national title

To Urban Meyer, three things matter every season at Ohio State — beat Michigan, win the Big Ten Championship and then go on to win the national championship. Since the Buckeyes only accomplished the latter in 2024, does that mean there should be an asterisk in the record book next to their championship win?

Of course not, Meyer told his co-hosts Mark Ingram and Rob Stone on a recent episode of the Triple Option Podcast.

“It will be discussed with some of the die-hards. But no, it’ll go down — and I would always ask our staff, how do you evaluate recruiting? Number one is wins. Number two is NFL draft picks,” Meyer said. “I mean, that’s that’s the business we’re in. If you want to evaluate your players, they do it for you every April. The NFL evaluates your players for you.

“Because I think their offensive skill, the guys you mentioned, the two tailbacks — I’m telling you. There are a couple of backup receivers who are going to be first-round draft picks, that Carnell Tate. I stood next to that cat. Holy. He’d be anywhere right now as an All-American.”

The Buckeyes’ two-headed backfield featured a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson. Tate, a 6-foot-3, 191-pound sophomore caught 52 passes for 733 yards and four touchdowns in 2024. He’s expected to take on a larger role for Ohio State if he chooses to remain in Columbus this offseason.

Transfer quarterback Will Howard passed for over 4,000 yards and threw for 35 touchdowns this season and worked alongside two 1,000-yard receivers in true freshman Jeremiah Smith and senior Emeka Egbuka. Judkins and Henderson were also active in the receiving game this season, combining for 445 yards and three touchdowns this season.

In the end, the Buckeyes may not have defeated their bitter rival from up north. And in turn, that kept Ohio State out of the Big Ten Championship game. In that situation, Ohio State could have succumbed to the pressure and mounting outside noise. Instead, they ran the College Football Playoff gauntlet and claimed the national championship for the first time since Meyer hoisted the very first CFP trophy with Ohio State in 2014.

Meyer had nothing but high praise of head coach Ryan Day and what his Buckeyes were able to accomplish this past season.

“This [team] will go down, in my mind, as one of the great teams in the last 20 years of college football,” Meyer said.