“I know the outside looks at it, that there are so many distractions that are going on”.
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“His neck is still a little sore and he’s getting treatment”, Meyer said of Miller, who left the Buckeyes’ 28-14 win over Minnesota after his helmet slammed against the turf following a reception. Barrett was disciplined by the team for receiving a citation for driving while impaired on October 31.
While Ohio State (9-0, 5-0 Big Ten, No. 3 CFP) totaled 376 yards, Jones did not shine. Northern IL and Maryland are the only teams to have scored a touchdown on the Buckeyes in the first quarter this year. Ohio State went on to make the NCAA tournament before losing to one-seed Notre Dame in the second round. He had his license suspended for six months.
Cardale Jones started in Barrett’s place against Minnesota, completing 12 of 22 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown.
The Buckeyes will again have Barrett around to cancel out those defenders on the ground this week. “He just hit his head and said it felt like he couldn’t move at that time so he just laid there and made sure everything was all right”. Even with a few muddling on offense through quarterback changes, the Buckeyes still have averaged 454 yards per game.
But Barrett struck a plea deal with prosecutors – in which he pled guilty to the OVI charge, and in exchange a related charge (backing without safety) was dismissed. The redshirt sophomore has been solid all season long in both pass protection and run blocking.
“Absolutely, you saw at the end there that [Jones] broke one, and he had a couple nice runs earlier in the game”, offensive coordinator Ed Warinner said. “It presents challenges, two different quarterbacks, two different strengths, two different skill sets”.
It is hard for a defense to continue to play at a high level when they are on the field more than half the time. “You always have to take that into perspective, the different attributes J.T. brings to the table”.
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Give the defense credit for waking up Ohio State after its lethargic start with Bell’s interception. Meyer said Barrett told him he did not believe he was impaired.Barrett was home October 31 relaxing with friends when a heavily intoxicated friend stopped by and Barrett chose to drive him home, said Barretts attorney, Phil Templeton.
