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Ohio State Buckeyes cornerback Bradley Roby delivers a hit on Iowa tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz in the first quarter of the fourth-ranked Buckeyes 34-24 win over Iowa. Roby was ejected from the game after the play.

(Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Cameras focused on the man at the podium. Reporters relaxed in cushy seats, their recorders pointed toward the speaker and their fingers prepared to engage in a fury of typing. Athletic director Gene Smith gazed ahead from the back of the room as his football coach took a deep breath.

Urban Meyer couldn't hold back any longer.

Following Saturday's win against Iowa, Meyer, fearful of a fine, brushed aside any inclination to offer his true opinion about Bradley Roby's ejection. At his weekly press conference on Monday, Meyer, typically terse and fragmented in his dialogue with reporters, spoke at lengths about the play that cost the Buckeyes their All-American cornerback.

"That was a game changer," Meyer said. "To take one of your better players out of the game, that impacted that game."

Roby retreated to the locker room after the referees ruled he targeted a defenseless receiver on a tackle with a minute remaining in the first quarter. An official review of the transgression upheld the referees' initial declaration, that Roby launched his body at tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz. Roby's shoulder appeared to make contact with the helmet of the player they deemed a defenseless receiver.

Meyer felt that didn't warrant Roby's dismissal.

"That was not the intent of the rule," Meyer said. "That play -- I can say that without, I'm sure, getting in trouble. That rule was not put for that play. … We teach them to get your pads down, hit with your shoulder pads."

A public service announcement about concussions spans the third page of the 2013 NCAA football rulebook. The display precedes the table of contents. Authorities in all levels of football have emphasized cracking down on hits to the helmet in an effort to minimize head injuries.

Rule 9, Section 1, Article 4 of the handbook states: "No player shall target and initiate contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent with the helmet, forearm, hand, fist, elbow or shoulder."

The guide defines "targeting" as taking aim "at an opponent for purposes

of attacking with an apparent intent that goes beyond making a legal tackle or a legal block or playing the ball."

Meyer was miffed that officials classified Roby's intent as targeting.

"The NCAA and everybody is going to want to re-look at that rule," Meyer said. "Ohio State is very concerned about player safety. We have gone to the Nth degree with adjusting practice. Any rule for the safety of players, no question we support it."

Roby's ejection left Doran Grant and Armani Reeves to anchor the secondary against Iowa. Hawkeyes quarterback Jake Rudock threw for 245 yards and three touchdowns.

Grant called Roby's banishment "frustrating," as he noted the increasing difficulty of playing cornerback.

"It just makes the defense become a little more aware and the coaching on tackling is a little bit different," Grant said. "You can't just go all out and hit somebody. You have to be smart in the way you hit them."

For Roby, it tacked on another chapter to what has amounted to the antithesis of a storybook season. The Georgia native considered bolting for the NFL after the 2012 campaign before opting to return for his redshirt junior year. Talent evaluators have pegged him as a potential first-round draft choice, though this season has not unfolded in ideal fashion.

Roby missed the season opener after he earned a one-game suspension for an off-season altercation in Indiana. Meyer called Ohio State's pass defense "very alarming" two weeks ago, a challenge to the shaky secondary. Wisconsin's Jared Abbrederis capitalized on single coverage against Roby and hauled in 10 catches for 207 yards and a touchdown in late September.

Saturday's ejection cost Roby more than three quarters on the field in a tightly contested game.

"He, himself, set a high standard," Meyer said. "He's not playing at the same level he did a year ago. At times, he plays fantastic. When there's a mistake on the corner position it's glaring."

However, this latest occurrence, Meyer said, was out of Roby's control.

"We teach and work hard at it, is that you play the game with the shoulder pads and play below the head," Meyer said. "To have a guy ejected who played like that, obviously I'm concerned."