COLUMBUS – When it was pointed out to Ohio State coach Urban Meyer that a small town in the state was
changing its name to honor him, he thought it was a joke.
Told that the village of Urbana, in western Ohio, was dropping its last letter in his honor – becoming
Urban on Monday, when the Buckeyes play Oregon in the national championship game – Meyer was temporarily
taken aback.
"You’re kidding," he said with a grin. "They’re dropping the ‘a’?"
Assured that was the case, he smiled and added, "Wow. That’s very nice."
That was just one of many amusing vignettes on Tuesday when Meyer and the Buckeyes faced questions on
Ohio State’s media day.
At one point, quarterback Cardale Jones did cartwheels, laughing loudly. (It should be noted, he did them
with no coaches in sight.)
It’s clear the Buckeyes are a loose bunch heading into the biggest game of their lives.
During 30 minutes of a light practice open to reporters, the Buckeyes stretched and went through their
paces – just like a typical workout inside the Woody Hayes facility. A four-inch snowfall overnight
forced everyone indoors.
H-back and kick returner Dontre Wilson, out the final six games with a broken foot, sat on the sidelines
in a compression boot. Still, he’s listed as probable, along with tight end Jeff Heuerman (leg).
Despite the grind of a long, 14-game season and playing in a winner-take-all national championship game
just 11 days after playing another game that was win-or-go-home, the Buckeyes were in good spirits.
Meyer won Bowl Championship Series titles after the 2006 and 2008 seasons at Florida, so he is a grizzled
veteran when it comes to huge postseason games. But none of his players have ever participated in
anything even remotely like this.
Meyer was asked about his two previous titles (the first coming in a 41-14 rout of then-No. 1 Ohio State
in Glendale, Arizona).
"I just went back – practices were a little different," Meyer said. "Those days, we had 37
days to prepare. I remember in ’06 it was 37 or 47, some ridiculous number. So that’s much different.

"This is a one-game shot. You have four practices in shoulder pads.  And tomorrow we’re going to
give our guys a day off of practice. You just can’t go the tempo we went the last three days. You just
can’t. You’re going to break them down."
The Buckeyes fly out on Friday. They’ll be taking a jumbo, double-decker jet that will accommodate all
the players, support personnel and everybody in the travel party, instead of taking two planes.
Jones threw with receivers during practice on Tuesday. Later, after the 6-foot-5, 250-pounder had shown
off his acrobatic skills, he laughed while playing catch with an Ohio State employee.