Urban Meyer honored with special gesture for winning the 2014 championship during game against Nebraska

Former Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer was honored by his former program during Saturday's game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. In 2014, Meyer led the Buckeyes to a national championship.

Meyer and members of that championship-winning team gathered on the field and were greeted by the admiring Buckeyes fans.

Once this finished, Meyer was carried on the field on the shoulders of his former players.

"To be in your home state, I'm from northeast Ohio, to look up there and see the 2014 (sign hanging in Ohio Stadium) and share it with guys you love in the most improbable national championship with a third-string quarterback," Meyer said durinf halftime ceremony.

"That team was so good. There are still guys 10 years-plus in the NFL. That's how good that team was. That's one of the great teams in college football history."

The 2014 Ohio State team wasn't predicted to win. While they did have some talented players such as Joey Bosa, Ezekiel Elliott and Terry McLaurin, they had a massive problem in the quarterback position. Both Braxton Miller and JT Barrett received injuries that took them out of the season early.

This meant that Cardale Jones was the Buckeyes' starting quarterback.

The Buckeyes started the season poorly, falling to Virginia Tech in Week 2. However, Meyer & Co. won the rest of their games in the regular season.

They would dominate the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten Conference Championship game, giving them the number four ranking in the College Football Playoffs.

The Buckeyes defied the odds and defeated both the number one ranked Alabama Crimson Tide and then the number two ranked Oregon to win the national championship.

Can Ohio State win the National Championship in 2024?

The 2014 Buckeyes overcame a lot of adversity to win the national championship.

Almost a decade later, the 2024 Ohio State Buckeyes are also in a position to win the national championship.

Entering Saturday's game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, they are 5-1 on the season and are in contention to make the Big Ten Conference Championship. Unlike in 2014, even if they do not win the conference, they are still likely to make the playoffs due to the expanded bracket.

However, Ohio State may need to deliver a few upsets against some of the Big Ten's and SEC's biggest challenges if they wish to win the national championship.

About the author

Ben Tredinnick is a journalist who covers college football and college basketball at Sportskeeda who is currently studying for a masters in Data Science. His degree in Psychology has helped him gain an in-depth understanding of the minds of coaches.

Ben has been involved in sports writing since 2022 and covered the NFL previously. His strengths include providing in-depth profiles of athletes and coaches, with a particular focus on development, and looking at which teams could be in the hunt for today's college stars.

Ben enjoys following college sports more than the NBA or NFL because there is more variation in terms of playstyles. The tournaments are often more competitive than the major leagues, and due to the constant turnover of players, there are rarely any "superteams" in college sports.

He prioritizes research, looks at multiple sources and publications to make sure he gets the full picture of the story before writing. He tries not to write from a one-sided perspective to allow the reader to be able to make their mind up on their own.

A Texas Longhorns fan, as well as a massive New York Giants fan, some of his favorite college players of all time are Arch Manning, Tim Tebow and Reggie Bush.

When he is not working, Ben enjoys watching films (especially Godzilla) and spending time with his cat.

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Edited by Krutik Jain