EAST LANSING, Mich. – All week, his players said, Urban Meyer had walked around reminding them. Not so much of what Michigan State did to Ohio State eleven months ago, when an upset in the Big Ten title game ended the Buckeyes' national dreams and left Meyer picking at a cold, postgame pizza, the picture of forlorn.

That was part of it but that wasn't the important part. Revenge is too easy, too fleeting, too reliant on what someone else did to you, rather than what you do for yourself.

This was about what Ohio State is, what it stands for, why they all came together in Columbus in the first place – players and coaches – all drawn to a tradition of not just excellence, but relevance.

Urban Meyer didn't come out of retirement and head to the Midwest to play second fiddle to anyone. All those players that bought into his system, either the ones he inherited or the ones he recruited, didn't either. The entire relentless exercise is about winning championships, winning big games, winning in ways so that no one can ignore you.

Given the chance to be underdogs, the chance to claim everyone was picking against him, Meyer preached the opposite. There was no woe is us.

We're Ohio State, he told them. This is Ohio State, he challenged them. "I'll never feel like an underdog here," offensive lineman Taylor Decker said.

Ohio State 49, Michigan State 37.

Order restored, Buckeyes risen, Ohio State back to being Ohio State.

"This is one for the ages," Meyer said.

Meyer is now 21-0 during the Big Ten regular season, yet nearly three full seasons into his tenure in Columbus he still lacked a signature win, which says plenty about the caliber of most of those league opponents.

Michigan State represented legitimacy, a top opponent, with a vicious defense, on the road, at night, in a frenzied stadium. Beat the Spartans, by far the most credible opponent on the schedule, and Ohio State could at last act like it had done something.

View photos Buckeyes QB J.T. Barrett (16) runs away from Spartans LB Ed Davis. (USA TODAY Sports) More

Meyer knew he could keep hanging 50 on Maryland and Rutgers and Illinois, but no one cared and no one caring hurt more than anything. Being outside the SEC spotlight is one thing, being relegated to also-ran status behind Michigan State was another.

"I know that he really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really wanted to win this game," safety Tyvis Powell said.

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