Urban Meyer capped his coaching career with yet another BCS/New Year’s Six Bowl victory with the Ohio State Buckeyes, in the Rose Bowl.
The Ohio State Buckeyes and Texas football surely had quite the load of drama off-the-field this year. Texas football couldn’t stay out of the news during the off-season and in fall camp. A lot of the headlines were not for the right reasons too. Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer had himself an interesting 2018 campaign due to some issues with his health and coaching staff.
The good news for the Texas Longhorns was that head coach Tom Herman kept them on track during the early portion of the regular season. Both Texas and Ohio State wound up having very successful regular seasons when it was all said and done. Texas made an appearance in the Allstate Sugar Bowl as a result of a successful regular season, while Ohio State faced head coach Chris Petersen and the Washington Huskies in the “Granddaddy of them all” in the Rose Bowl.
In the Rose Bowl against the Huskies, Urban Meyer got the best out of his team, at least in the first half. Ohio State jumped on Washington early to take a 21-3 lead into halftime. It’s not too surprising that the Buckeyes came out of the gates firing with one of the top quarterback prospects for the 2019 NFL Draft, Heisman finalist Dwayne Haskins, looking to show off his talent to NFL scouts on the national stage.
Haskins and the Buckeyes also had the motivation factor working for them in the first half, knowing that Urban Meyer was coaching in his final game. In the weeks leading up to the Rose Bowl, Meyer announced that he would be retiring following the 2018 campaign. An interim Ohio State head coach for three games to start the regular season, Ryan Day, is set to take over the main duties entering the off-season.
Moreover, this was the first time that Meyer coached in the Rose Bowl. Despite all the successful years he had with Ohio State and the Florida Gators, Meyer never coached a team in the Rose Bowl. Getting to do what he did in the Rose Bowl on New Years Day 2019 was the perfect way to end his legendary coaching tenure with the Buckeyes.
For the last time as the coach of Ohio State, Urban Meyer gives his postgame interview. pic.twitter.com/wQUayViAHN
— ESPN (@espn) January 2, 2019
Ohio State sent out Meyer on the right foot with by holding off a strong Washington run in the second half. Haskins also might’ve finished out his short collegiate career as a starting quarterback the right way, with more than 250 passing yards and three touchdowns. He helped Ohio State hold on to nab the 28-23 victory over the Huskies to win the Rose Bowl.
Thank you Buckeye Nation!!! pic.twitter.com/XznXRjHnSp
— Urban Meyer (@CoachUrbanMeyer) January 1, 2019
Urban Meyer caps his coaching career as one of the best in college football history with a huge number of impressive accolades. He racked up two SEC Titles in his time with Florida and three Big Ten Titles with Ohio State. Meyer added three national titles and numerous Coach of the Year awards to a stocked trophy case.
The head coaching career for Meyer began with the Bowling Green Falcons in 2001 and carried him through the 2018 season with Ohio State. In between, he held head coaching positions with Florida and the Utah Utes. He’ll round things out with more than 185 wins and more than a dozen postseason victories. Although the relationship between Urban Meyer and the Longhorns was shaky this year, every blue blood fan base in the nation should respect what he was able to accomplish in what added up to be a Hall-of-Fame worthy coaching career.