Every once in a while I do.

By doing it, I mean looking at things through a different lens, like through sports.

This time I couldn’t resist looking at a sports scene to demonstrate a religious belief, as an Ohio State football fan.

His run to the title this year was so unexpected, so incredible, so unique, and so fulfilling that it deserves a blog post. It seems like an appropriate and close way to prove a point.

the underdogs

For starters, this was the first year of the new college football playoff system, and Ohio State snuck into the fourth and final playoff position in a way that was debated. Some say it was based on his past or earning potential, rather than his talent.

As the 1 team of the 4 that seemed not to be there, Ohio State played with desire and goal and, in the end, wore the jerseys saying:

“Undisputed National Champions”

Indisputable because there was a playoff.

They didn’t seem to be the most talented team of the 4, but they seemed to be the team with the most inward drive.

The final losers of the 4 teams in the playoffs entered.

This post discusses a quote from Ohio State coach Urban Meyer regarding his team’s performance. He said,

“Strong belief can change your game level.”

Meyer, his players and his staff played with a goal and a desire that, according to him, changed the level of his game. It was his motivational technique, filled with spiritual wisdom, that helped drive his team forward.

When put in the context of when he said, the quote seems to refer primarily to Wisconsin’s loss to Auburn in the Outback Bowl.

This was significant because the Big Ten were considered weak all year, at least when compared to the Southeastern Conference.

People said Ohio State didn’t belong as a top 4 team because they were playing weaker opponents. The strength of the schedule, they said, should influence who are the best teams.

Meyer claimed that the Big Ten’s win over Auburn helped motivate his players and showed them that SEC teams were not invincible. This was reiterated to his players when the playoff began, so they remembered it.

(Big Ten Michigan State also won their Bowl game over number 6 Baylor.)

In fact, the quote was referring to the Auburn game, but it doesn’t tell the whole story of Meyer and Ohio State.

Yes, desire helped Ohio State believe deep down that they could beat the once invincible Alabama Crimson Tide, winner of 3 national titles from 2010-14.

But the quote referred to more than that.

The goal

Urban Meyer first started putting the idea of ​​Ohio State winning a national title with a simple text message in people’s heads. It was after Alabama’s thrashing of Notre Dame in a title game in January 2013 that Meyer soaked up the sense of accomplishment at a high level.

After the win, Meyer’s text was sent to the entire team and each member of the support staff which partially read: “The chase has begun.”

In this case, “the chase” meant the goal of getting Ohio State back into the national title game and winning it. He knew the chase would be challenging and require a lot of concentration, but he was up for it.

After witnessing Alabama’s dominance and having graduated from Ohio State himself, he decided it was time to try to “turn the tide”, away from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) that Alabama was in.

Meyer stated that it was time for a team from another conference to experience the level of glory they had. The SEC had won 7 of the last 8 national titles.

Meyer knows how difficult this goal was to achieve, based on his game wins with Florida in 2007 and 2009. He went the extra mile to reach his destination.

“Everything has to line up perfectly for this to happen,” he said.

Although it seemed like a long shot for Ohio State, Meyer believed it could be done with the right planning, tools, and motivation: “the chase.”

This phrase, “the manhunt is on,” seemed to resonate with both Ohio State and the media. maybe a catchphrase was part of the extra mile he was talking about.

It was defining.

From his text he uses this phrase when he first signs a player at Ohio State to clearly define what he is trying to do. Running back Ezekiel Elliott even said that the word championships is plural, which means that Meyer talked about winning national championships, more than one.

He puts the idea in their heads from the beginning.

How many times have you heard that having a goal is important?

Meyer was truly ready to end the SEC’s dominance of the world of college football, and he believed that he, his team and his staff could do it together.

In addition to the Alabama dominance, Meyer was also motivated to win a title by a now-famous story in his personal life.

When he was young, Meyer’s father, after seeing the younger Meyer strike out in a baseball game, told him that he was walking home instead of getting a ride. It came as a surprise to the young Meyer and he never forgot it.

It was apparently a message to the younger Meyer about seizing opportunities when they come and realizing that they don’t come often.

As a grown Meyer says: “You’ve got a swing. Great champions don’t miss.”

Well, Meyer got that swing.

Talk about “aligning perfectly.” Meyer had the opportunity to face rival Alabama in the playoffs (all teams), which was almost like a fairy tale. Watching Alabama win was a catalyst for his idea of ​​”the chase.”

His team not only beat Alabama, but then beat the best team left after that: Oregon.

A title in your spiritual life

This Meyer motivation is important because it relates to spirituality and it can also relate to your life.

As Meyer said, “Strong belief can change your level of play.”

In other words, however things look on the outside, strong belief can change the inside.

Just like Ohio State was the underdog in their last 3 title quests, you might feel like an underdog in your life. Things may seem “stacked against you” and other people seem domineering.

Heck, Meyer even had to use his third quarterback in line for the chase, since the other two were injured.

You can’t change or control everything, but you can change your level of play.

Urban Meyer might even have thought things were looking against his young team after an early season home loss to unranked Virginia Tech. The media declared after the defeat that his national title aspirations were over.

But neither he nor his team gave up. If God wants something to happen, it will happen. In other words, a strong belief.

In an interview after winning the title, Meyer said, “The chase is over. They accepted their final assignment and their final directive. We are very grateful.”

Sometimes it may seem like God isn’t working in your life, but a strong belief deep down can do wonders. In fact, Christians believe that God works through those who believe in him: even as an underdog.

With a strong belief and a grateful attitude, your national title could be on the horizon.

Believing in God can change your level of play and help things line up perfectly.

Strong faith can move mountains.