“J.T. has earned the right to start Saturday at Rutgers”, head coach Urban Meyer told the media. “Lot of respect for those teams”. But he wasn’t the one who actually walked the Jews into the promised land – that was Joshua. For a few reason, teams have been able to exploit Ohio State’s rush defense this year, which is somewhat of a mystery considering the strength of the front seven and two standout safeties. Meyer should start Barrett going forward, but also use Jones throughout the remainder of the season.
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The defense did reasonably well given the position they were put in by the lack of offense and frightful special teams.
Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith played football at Notre Dame and remembers the Irish switching to green jerseys one season for a game against Southern California. Had he played the entire year last year, start to finish, he would have been a strong candidate for the Heisman Trophy. “He earned that with the way he played Saturday”. After the victory, the Buckeyes seemed to struggle on the offensive end in long stretches.
But Barrett, who started the first 12 games last season and was first-team All-Big Ten, has had a bigger role each of the last two games.
The Buckeyes (7-0) are perhaps the first unbeaten team more than midway through their regular season, when ranked No. 1 in both polls, to make such a switch when not forced by injury. The kid from Cleveland was now in line to be the projected starter of the Ohio State Buckeyes and control their national championship dreams. Does it feel like J.T. can press the gas pedal more? Yes. And when will Braxton Miller make an appearance in the wildcat formation?
Meyer on thoughts of triple option with Miller: “He was not a great option quarterback …” The Tigers are 6-0 but have played five of them at home, the lone roadie this year was a less-than-stellar 20-17 win at Louisville. So while you may remember Barrett as a distributing machine, regularly hitting receivers in stride for touchdowns, the numbers show that no matter who’s taking the majority of snaps, the number of passes, the number of completions, and the passing yards per game are similar enough, year of year.
The sophomore from Wichita Falls, Texas, produced a school-record 3,772 total yards – 2,834 passing and 938 more rushing – last season and a Big Ten-record 45 total touchdowns. After seven games this season, Elliott is closing in on his second straight 1,000-yard season with 988 yards on 148 carries and a Big Ten-best 11 touchdowns.
With the running game in full bloom, Barrett will get the ball to Michael Thomas and Jalin Marshall in open space and let their speed gain the coveted yards after catch.
Barrett’s dual-threat abilities provides more mismatches for the Buckeyes offensively.
You can absolutely prefer J.T. Barrett with this Ohio State team, and it’s the score at the end of the day that truly matters, but the Buckeyes might just need Cardale Jones sooner than you think. Jones completed 9 of 15 passes and rushed four times for a loss of 16 yards against Penn State before being replaced by Barrett.
Ohio State is changing starting quarterbacks before the eighth game of the season.
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Ohio State’s offense has appeared to be closer to what was expected of it this season with Barrett in the game, but Meyer gave no indication if he was leaning in a new direction or if Jones would continue to be the starter.
