Ohio State was supposed to have an identity.
Not the most talented team in the country and far from the oldest team around, it had to win with defense and an edge. It needed to be tough. Instead, a lack of that very intangible, Chris Holtmann and his players believe, is quite possibly the main reason that their season has gone sideways so quickly.
“Bottom line, we just have got to find a way to play tougher and smarter,” Holtmann said on Wednesday. “And that may seem like an oversimplification, but there's a lot that goes into it.