COLUMBUS, Ohio - After the impressive season by Ohio State in 2019 in which they revamped the defense and took the offense to new heights with first-year head coach Ryan Day and new quarterback Justin Fields, the type of gut-wrenching loss like the Buckeyes experienced in the Fiesta Bowl is one that can reverberate throughout the program.

While Ohio State would have certainly rather taken the shot at a championship, the loss now provides an opportunity for added motivation in a business where everybody is searching for the next chip on their shoulder.

Now that the early enrollees in the 2020 recruiting class have had some time in the program, they have an idea of what that loss meant to the program and the impact it will have moving forward.

“They're not afraid to talk about it. It's on almost every TV here once we're working out,” Jaxon Smith-Njigba said on National Signing Day. “The band's playing. I didn't play in that game, but I know for the upperclassmen and for all of us, we don't want to go through that again. We're just working right now to keep that from happening.”