LOS ANGELES — Ohio State’s focus was no secret as it prepared to play in the Rose Bowl against Utah.

It was embarrassed, annihilated on the road by its rival, questioning the toughness, the grit of a team after what was called a finesse performance in the regular season finale; keeping the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten Championship and out of the College Football Playoff for the first time since they were last in a Rose Bowl.

Head coach Ryan Day said the Buckeyes’ practices were anything but finesse preparing for the Utes: calling them spirited and physical ahead of what the head coach calls the “ultimate test” Saturday afternoon.

“It's a big challenge for our guys,” Day said. “What a great opportunity for them at the year, really two things, for the younger guys to build the momentum, and for the older guys, to end this the right way.”

The Ohio State head coach had seen progress made. No pressure for a National Championship. Just progress.

Entirely different from the atmosphere surrounding the Rose Bowl in 2019.

Three years ago, Day was next in line and not the center of attention. Instead, he watched head coach Urban Meyer lead the Buckeyes for the final time, salute the marching band and leave the field.

The then-offensive coordinator was then standing next to Meyer in the locker room postgame, going through the same ceremony Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham went through heading into the Fiesta Bowl in 2005: the passing of the whistle from Meyer’s neck to his successor, the official indication that he was ready to take over.

It was something Whittingham thought he was ready for earlier.

The Utah head coach thought he was next in line when Ron McBride was let go after the 2002 season, having been working on the staff for seven or eight years. He thought he should have been the guy.

Then Whittingham met Meyer, seeing his organization of the program, leaving nothing to chance and planning everything meticulously.

“Turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me as a football coach because after two years with him, I realized I wasn’t ready two years prior,” Whittingham said. “It was a great learning experience.”

For Day, in his two seasons under Meyer, he learned similar lessons: the relentless drive in recruiting on a daily basis, the feel for a team and what and how it needs to be motivated at each moment.

That was something he had to learn to do, transitioning from quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator to inheriting the whistle.

As Day prepared his team for the Rose Bowl, this is something he had to tap into: the motivation, leading a team attempting to rise from the ashes after arguably its worst loss in the past 10 seasons. It’s leading physical and spirited practices, giving something for Ohio State to play for, leading into 2022 with the momentum and the expectation to return to the Big Ten Championship, to the College Football Playoff.

While Meyer’s coaching career came crashing down in Jacksonville, that expectation remains both at Ohio State and Utah, both of which are partly, according to the head coaches, to him.

“He is one heck of a football coach and all the respect in the world for him,” Whittingham said. “Any success we’ve had since he’s been gone is a lot of it is attributed to him.”