Ohio State Football: How Does Urban Meyer 2.0 Handle a Loss?

Eight minutes into his meeting with the media on Monday, Stan Drayton found himself at a loss for words. And it wasn't because of a question that had anything to do with his running back rotation.

"Is Urban handling losses any different than he did during his time at Florida?" the Ohio State running backs coach was asked, a camcorder held mere inches from his face.

"Wow," Drayton responded after a pause. "You got me on that question. I would have to say..."

The question—and answer—were obviously complicated.

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When Urban Meyer unexpectedly retired from Florida in 2009, he did so facing a sobering reality: his next loss could be his last.

The health issues that led to Meyer's early retirement have never really been defined, but this much we know: In the early morning following the Gators' loss to Alabama in the 2009 SEC Championship Game—a de facto play-in game for the BCS Championship Game—Meyer was admitted to a hospital after suffering from chest pains. The two-time national champion coach's initial retirement lasted less than 24 hours, however, as Meyer opted to return to Florida for the 2010 season following a brief leave of absence.

And as it turned out, Meyer's next loss wasn't his last. The post-Tim Tebow era in Gainesville turned out to be lower risk and much lower reward, as the Gators ultimately struggled to an 8-5 record after enjoying a 26-2 run from 2008-09.

Meyer would again leave Florida, this time for good, and again citing his health and family as his primary reasons why. He was 46 years old and admittedly unable to deal with the stress of his high-pressure job, a question that understandably followed him when he took over Ohio State in 2012.

"I feel fantastic now," Meyer insisted during his introductory press conference at OSU. "I was proud I had balance for quite a while. I lost that near the end. My health is in good shape. I've been checked out over and over again."

For the better part of his first two years in Columbus, Meyer developed a pretty good recipe for dealing with losses: he didn't. 

In his first season with the Buckeyes, Meyer directed a bowl-ineligible team to a 12-0 record. And while his Ohio State tenure was considered an instant success, it left many—including his own wife—wondering what he'd do when that inevitable first loss with the Buckeyes came.

"At the end of the last game, I said, ‘Really, you really had to go undefeated the first year?’" Shelley Meyer told Eleven Warriors in 2013.  "Where do you go from there?"

As it turned out, the answer was 12 more wins, before that haunting loss finally arrived. Again with a trip to the national title game on the line, Meyer's team fell victim in the conference championship game, with the Buckeyes losing to Michigan State.

After the game, Meyer was infamously pictured solemnly eating pizza, but by all accounts, he seemed to handle the loss about as well as anybody could have expected him to.

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

Since that cold December night in Indianapolis, however, Ohio State's misfortunes have snowballed into a stretch of three losses in four games, including last weekend's defeat at the hands of Virginia Tech. So how is the third-year Buckeyes head coach dealing with the first extended adversity that he's faced since coming to Columbus?

Like all things Meyer-related, it's tough to tell.

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Meyer admitted to not sleeping much on Saturday night before putting in a full day of work on Sunday—neither of which are abnormal activities at this time of year for a football coach after a win or a loss. Asked by B/R in July how he was handling his daughter Nicki's famous pink contract on the back end of back-to-back losses in the Big Ten Conference Championship Game and Orange Bowl, Meyer insisted he was abiding by the rules put in place for him by his family

"I was where I was and it wasn't pleasant," Meyer said. "It affected a lot of people. I don't want to do that again."

If there's one person on the Ohio State staff who can vouch for where Meyer was four years ago it's Drayton, who served as the Gators running backs coach from 2005-07 and again in 2010. The now-Buckeyes assistant has seen his boss at his lowest of lows but insists that Meyer is now handling losses better than he was during his time in Gainesville.

"I would have to say, absolutely, yes," Drayton finally answered. "Urban is very encouraged by a bunch of motivated young men that want to make it right...nobody's reflecting emotionally on this game right now. We're moving forward."

And while that may be the politically correct answer, sprinkled with bits of truth, not everybody inside the walls of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center seems to be moving on from Ohio State's loss to the Hokies as quickly as Drayton claims to be.

"I'm still hurting," Meyer admitted Monday morning. "We'll be ready by tonight, get it out of our system and go."

With at least 10 games remaining on their slate, Meyer and the Buckeyes don't really have any other choice.

Although Meyer appears to be dealing with Ohio State's recent defeats better internally, his external actions have made it clear to his players that losing doesn't sit well with him.

As detailed in Wright Thompson's 2012 profile, most of Meyer's weeks as a head coach have culminated with a Victory Meal, a celebration of his team's most recent win.

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They'd gather after a win, eating steak and shrimp, watching a replay of the game. They'd hang out, enjoying the accomplishment. Players and coaches loved Victory Meal, and Meyer often sat at the front of the room, glowing inside.

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Only on Sunday, there was no Victory Meal, because, well, there was no victory. Rather than dine on prime cuts, the Buckeyes were served a less-than-memorable meal consisting of spaghetti and meatballs.

"We still had dinner. It just wasn't the same quality of food," Drayton said. "I don't even remember [what it was]. I just remember swallowing something."

"It's something that I really did not enjoy and something I cannot get used to," added sophomore safety Tyvis Powell, the only OSU player to meet with the media on Monday.

And while the Buckeyes will have to wait another week for their next surf-and-turf meal, the formerly unreasonable Meyer now finds himself as the voice of reason inside his team's locker room. That's not something that could have been said four years ago, but thus far, Meyer appears to be passing what's been one of the toughest tests of his coaching career.

"He remained calm about it. He paints the big picture for you," Powell said. "All you think about is the loss, but he tries to get you to move on and move forward and look to the future rather than sit back and dwell on the loss."

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Ohio State Lead Writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.