In case you hadn’t heard, Ohio State has quite the quarterback competition to look forward to in August when fall camp officially rolls around. Braxton Miller, Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett — three quite accomplished signal callers — will compete at the highest level to try and be named the starter when the Buckeyes take the field Sept. 7 in Blacksburg, Va. against Virginia Tech.
But the participants, at least one of them anyway, doesn’t like to used the word ‘competition’ to describe what’s going on at Ohio State.
“Y’all guys always say competition, we’re just trying to push one another,” Miller said Tuesday prior to heading to the airport for the ESPYs. “I hate that word. We’re just gonna have fun with it.”
Whatever word you want to use to describe the situation in Columbus at football’s most important position is fine.
But whichever you choose, make sure it’s not distraction. That’s not something the other players on Ohio State’s roster want to hear.
“No,” linebacker Joshua Perry said firmly when asked if the quarterback situation could have a negative impact on the team. “Just because of the kind of team that we are. If it was a different team, a different culture, maybe a different scenario it could but the way that we play for each other and the way that we care is kind of you're a nameless guy when you're out there.”
Competitive? Definitely. Unprecedented? Absolutely. Fascinating? For sure. But Ohio State’s other players say it won’t cause any issues.
“I don't think it'll be a distraction at all,” running back Ezekiel Elliott said. “Competition brings the best out of everybody. Just honestly will be good for all three of those guys to get out there and compete and they're such great guys. It's going to make them better.”
There is one part of the situation that has head coach Urban Meyer a little concerned: how the two who don’t win the job will respond.
“You gotta watch, the human element is dangerous,” Meyer said. “If it’s about them, it could be very bad. If it’s about the team, I think our culture right now wouldn’t support something about them. Of the three individuals involved, it is the fact that there’s one or two of those individuals that aren’t going to play a lot and that’s terrible because all three of those guys have done major things for us.”
But Meyer’s concern will come after the fact, after the whole thing is decided.
Throughout Ohio State’s fall camp, all of the discussion will be about the quarterbacks and that’s where all of the distraction talk will come into play. The Buckeyes insist that won’t be an issue, though. In fact, Miller said it will be quite the opposite.
“It’s gonna be fun, man,” Miller said. “Just to get an opportunity to push one another, it’s gonna be fun.”
