How Urban Meyer Passed the Time When He Got Stuck at Sea

Urban Meyer has coached in three national title games.

Twice, he's seen his championship hopes washed down the drain in the last possible week.

Heck, his coaching career has even sent him to the hospital.

Suffice to say, it'd take a lot to rattle the Ohio State head coach. But when Meyer—along with 2,500 Buckeye fans—found himself stranded at sea on the annual Buckeye Cruise for Cancer this past week, the reigning national champion coach admitted to being a little scared.

"It was a harrowing experience. I was really worried we weren't going to survive," Meyer told 10TV's Dom Tiberi with a smile. "A couple of nice glasses of wine, and we made it."

Each winter, the Buckeye Cruise for Cancer sets sail for a five-day trip with the intent of raising money for the Urban and Shelley Meyer Fund for Cancer Research. Loaded with ex-Buckeye players and fans alike, this year's cruise managed to raise $2 million, although it admittedly had an advantage over past cruises.

Originally scheduled to arrive back in Tampa, Florida, on Monday, fog caused the Royal Caribbean ship to stay at sea in the Gulf of Mexico for an additional 36 hours. Initially, the thought of not knowing when they would return may have seemed scary to some, but it didn't take long until the party picked back up.

Not that it ever really stopped.

Marissa Schrolucke

"They kept telling us we'd leave at noon [on Monday] if the fog lifted and then at noon they said it hasn't moved, so we're waiting until 4 p.m.," second-year Ohio State student Marissa Schrolucke told Bleacher Report. "No one stopped partying. It literally felt like we were supposed to be there that extra day because everyone partied as much as all of the others."

The partying still went to a good cause, with Coors agreeing to continue donating money from beer sales on the cruise's unexpected extra days. Unlike the cruise's first five days, however, nothing was planned for its sixth and seventh. But that didn't stop organizers on the ship from improvising like a quarterback on the run.

"They created fun events," Schrolucke said. "The athletes sang karaoke and the band still played by the pool with the cheerleaders."

Schrolucke, who attended the cruise with about 30 people from the St. Mary's Tailgate For Cancer, noted former linebacker and current Buckeyes strength coach Anthony Schlegel was a fan favorite in karaoke. But it was the trio of offensive lineman and current Indianapolis Colt Jack Mewhort, fullback/linebacker Zach Boren and linebacker Matt Wilhelm who stole the show on Monday night.

Taking the stage in front of a packed house, the three Ohio State greats entertained with renditions of several pop music hits, most notably, Katy Perry's "Firework."

A number of notable Buckeye alums, including current NFL players James Laurinaitis, A.J. Hawk, Brian Hartline, John Simon and Ryan Shazier, later joined on stage for a rendition of the Ohio State alma mater, "Carmen, Ohio." Schrolucke said Tuesday was a little more laid back, as most people began to worry about their travel arrangements.

As for Meyer, the three-time national champion head coach tried to remain just another face in the crowd. But as usual, it was his wife, Shelley, who found herself front and center.

"Shelley came out and was dancing on the dance floor and participating during the day," Schrolucke said. "Urban just was the same as he always was—chilling and observing and mingling with his family and friends."

Urban Meyer's not a dancer. Who would've thought?

Finally arriving back in Tampa on Tuesday night, Meyer took a charter flight back to Columbus, while several cruise-goers found themselves stuck in Florida on Wednesday having missed their original flights. It'd be tough to argue they didn't get their bang for their buck, though, having raised a record-setting amount of money on the cruise, thanks to two days full of extra memories they didn't originally expect to enjoy.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten Lead Writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.