Cardale Jones will start at quarterback for Ohio State when the Buckeyes host Western Michigan on Saturday in Columbus.
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“Anytime the head coach of the football team makes a promise like that you know he’s going to come through with it and do his part to help the offense get up to speed”, cornerback Eli Apple said.
Jones had originally beaten Barrett for the starting job during fall camp and started each of the first three games of the season. He was only 4 for 9 for 36 yards with two interceptions before being replaced, but Barrett didn’t perform much better once he was in the game.
Ohio State and Western Michigan are set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. E.T. The game will be televised on ABC/ESPN2.
In explaining his decision to stick with Jones, Meyer stated today that “the other guy [Barrett] has to pass him, and that hasn’t happened”.
When Ohio State’s coaches graded the films of the Northern Illinois game, 10 of the 11 defensive starters met or exceeded the level required to be labeled a champion for the game.
“We’ve got one of the best defensive lines in the country”. But Barrett has played in each, including the final 45 snaps in Saturday’s 20-13 win against Northern Illinois after Jones threw two interceptions in the first half.
While Herman called the plays from the press box, Meyer wanted Warinner on the sideline with his players. The Huskies won’t be the last team to employ that scheme until the Buckeyes figure it out.
“I wish we could play tomorrow”, he said. He also threw one interception and almost a second, and otherwise looked tentative in the passing game.
Opening holes for running back Ezekiel Elliott is Ohio State’s forte but getting him to second line of the defense has been not been easy.
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As for the offensive struggles over the past two weeks against Hawaii and Northern Illinois Meyer said it wasn’t exclusive to the quarterback play, “our offense is in a funk”. Five times it allowed more than 300 yards passing in a game.
