The question that everyone in college football wants to know is who will be the starting quarterback for the Buckeyes? A guy who could start nearly everywhere but in crowded Columbus. Every day hes making progress as a receiver. It will be interesting to see if the better defenses on Ohio State’s schedule-Michigan State, most notably-can exploit this potential “weakness”, and if so, how effective a one-dimensional Buckeye offense can be. “Thanks for bringing that up”. Meyer said that he plans to talk with offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tim Beck to evaluate his signal-callers after the first week of camp.
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Jones’ advocates point out Ezekiel Elliott flourished after Barrett went down. We’ll probably have a better idea after we see them take on Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, on September 7. Am I going to blame the coach? “That doesn’t make sense”. “I think they’re both right there…They’re both working their tails off. It’s one of the most refreshing competitions I’ve ever witnessed”. “Simple”.
That much was certainly true for Torrance Gibson, the highly rated 4-star dual-threat quarterback who committed to Ohio State’s 2015 class. Gibson was a highly covered prospect who was recruited by many schools as a wide receiver, but he chose Ohio State because he wanted to play quarterback. He said Miller’s got some muscle tightness, but that it’s not a big deal. The senior hasn’t been available to local media since Sports Illustrated broke that story, so his presence at media day actually overshadowed Barrett and Jones.
“That was my favorite field right over there, and this darned university keeps building stuff, I guess, so we lost our little practice field”, Meyer said, before praising the new “great setup”.
“Catching the ball and already being in the second or third level of the defense”, said Miller, a former two-time Big Ten MVP as much for his electricity in the open field as his passing. “It’s like playing a video game”. “For real”.
As for the mechanics of the position, Miller remains a novice. Jones won the flip, then called for a change in format. You probably wouldn’t expect me to say any different. “All you have to do is make one person miss, and it’s off to the races”, he said, smiling at the opportunity to leave defenders flailing in his wake again. “… This week will be a huge week”. “He did very good last week, and I’m anxious, as he is, to get going and get a starting spot”.
Barrett learned from last year to not try to one-up Jones in practice.
They’ve actually been through this competition thing before.
The reality is Barrett and Jones have been competing with each other since the spring of 2014, when they were vying to be Braxton Millers backup. But in fall camp, Barrett surged back past Jones on the depth chart.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “I think being the preseason No. 1 team can kind of spark some complacency and that can be unsafe. I didn’t really have an answer”, Barrett said. “… I had the wrong mindset about everything, very negative”. I should be the starter. OK, first option is J.T. Barrett and according to some like ESPN’s Travis Haney this is Barrett’s job to lose. Jones adjusted his attitude then.
Meyer termed Gibson, an inside nine guy, in the mold of what Devin Smith gave the team in recent years. “I will see guys that look like starters that don’t play yet”. After the opener, Ohio State returns home for games against Hawaii, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan before beginning the Big Ten season at Indiana on October 3. “Whatever I do on the field, I just want to be the best at it”.
Jones acknowledges he did not handle well coming out on the short end of last year’s competition with Barrett. This year, his was adjacent to Jones’.
“People say those things and sometimes it’s not genuine”, Meyer said. Meyer said if academics are the issue, then it’s more “than a blip on the radar”.
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In three starts last season, Jones became one of the most recognizable names in college football. The hard part will be the August day when urban Meyer and his staff tell a really good quarterback he wasn’t good enough.
