Kyle Grantham / Staff Photographer / kg116806@ohiou.edu

Ohio quarterback Austen Everson eyes head coach Frank Solich in the post-game press conference after the Bobcats’ 28-7 loss to Southern Mississippi in the GMAC Bowl Sunday. Ohio is now 0-2 in bowl appearances, scoring a total of 7 points.

If Ohio really is “the heart of it all,” then the nation’s largest heart attack occurred over a span of 30 hours.

I’m willing to guess a majority of Ohio’s population is feeling pretty sick after what transpired over the last two days, especially those who took the time and money and actually attended the GMAC Bowl — as I did — and the National Championship Game.

Not only did Ohio get a rude welcome back to the bowl parade by Southern Mississippi, but Ohio State — the crown jewel of the Buckeye State — was eaten alive by Florida.

So what does this mean for both of these teams?

For starters, let’s look at the hometown Bobcats. They started 2-3, reeled off seven consecutive wins and then flopped in both of their postseason games. Not to sound like former Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green or anything, but maybe the Bobcats weren’t who we thought they were.

The offense looked absolutely flat against Central Michigan and Southern Mississippi, scoring just 17 points in those two games combined. Granted, those two games were against better competition, but during the seven-game winning streak, the lowest the team scored in a game was 16 points against Eastern Michigan.

Defensively, the Bobcats weren’t much better, if at all. Ohio gave up more points to Central Michigan and Southern Mississippi than they did to their previous five opponents combined.

Maybe it was better competition, maybe it was being on the national stage for the first time, but one thing is for sure — despite a great regular season, this team has a long way to go. A lot of talent is leaving this year, including quarterback Austen Everson, linebackers Matt Muncy and Tyler Russ and defensive back T.J. Wright. Coach Frank Solich will definitely have his hands full next year, when he has to prove his team wasn’t a one-year wonder.

As for Ohio State, they were just overwhelmed. Troy Smith looked more like a high school backup than a Heisman winner, the offensive line was repeatedly torched by a very fast Florida defense and Urban Meyer’s offense was run to perfection.

The game cast a dark cloud over what was an amazing regular season for the Buckeyes, and did you hear that loud crash? That was Smith’s draft stock plummeting.

With Smith and backup Justin Zwick graduating and running back Antonio Pittman and wide receivers Ted Ginn Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez contemplating heading to the NFL, the Scarlet and Gray may have seen its window closed and locked for a while.

The college football season is now a memory, and for fans of Ohio’s teams, it was a pretty good one up until the blowouts of this past weekend.

Until spring football, Ohio college football fans take the time to relax and remember the positives of this season. After all, you could be from Michigan.