Is it time for Urban Meyer to pick a quarterback and stick with him?
Ohio State sits 3-0 on a young 2015 season, hanging onto its No. 1 ranking after edging defending MAC champions Northern Illinois, 20-13, Saturday. The Buckeyes hardly looked the part against the Huskies, needing an interception return for a touchdown by Darron Lee to remain unbeaten.
The Buckeye offense continues to look out of sync, regardless who is playing quarterback between Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett. Ever since a 42-24 Labor Day victory at Virginia Tech, sloppy execution, penalties and missed opportunities define the offensive unit's performances.
Some of it is on the offensive line not playing the way it did at the end of last season, paving the way for Ezekiel Elliott to scourge some of the best defenses in the country. Evan Spencer, Devin Smith and Jeff Heuerman are in the NFL, three vital offensive weapons who were crucial for Meyer's power spread attack, then coordinated by Tom Herman, now the head coach at the University of Houston.
Perhaps the biggest difference, however, is Meyer and the Buckeyes don't know who is their starting quarterback.
"I don't know that right now," Meyer said Saturday. "I haven't had time to think about it."
Said starting left tackle and team captain Taylor Decker: "I don't know how coach is going to handle it. They both do a great job when they come in there. Obviously, as a whole offense we didn't play well (Saturday)."
Meyer elected to start Jones, a hero in Ohio State's 2014 post-season run, in all three contests with mixed results. Jones beat out Barrett for the job and has since yielded to the man who finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting last season in each game, if for different reasons.
| QUARTERBACK | COMP-ATT | YARDS | TD | INT | RTG | RUSH ATT | YARDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CARDALE JONES | 26-46 | 334 | 2 | 3 | 118.8 | 21 | 115 | 1 |
| J.T. BARRETT | 20-35 | 193 | 2 | 1 | 116.6 | 5 | 65 | 0 |
Jones left Ohio State's 42-24 victory at Virginia Tech Labor Day Night because the game was all but decided. Barrett played well in relief, ripping off a 40-yard run against the Hokies and tossing a touchdown pass to Michael Thomas in the fourth quarter.
The following Saturday, Jones was deemed ineffective by Meyer midway through the second quarter and turned the keys over to Barrett. The Texan led Ohio State to a touchdown on his first drive against Hawai'i before Jones returned in the second half. Ohio State eventually put away the Rainbow Warriors, 38-0, behind a stellar defensive performance (Barrett also played late).
Against the Huskies, though, Jones tossed a pair of interceptions and only led the offense to three points in five drives. Meyer then called upon Barrett to take over, but he didn't exactly look much better and finished 11-of-19 for 97 yards and also threw an interception. He did hit Thomas for a 23-yard score that tied the game before halftime, but at times appeared hesitant and missed open receivers.
So what's the deal? Are they unprepared? Afraid to make a mistake for fear of a short leash? Or is it the offensive line play? The wide receivers not doing their job? What about a lack of a dominant rushing attack?
"I'm not prepared to tell you right yet," Meyer said. "I'll give you a little bit more insight next week."
The head coach has said all season long the starting job is on a week-by-week structure, but until Barrett beats out Jones, he is the backup. Both guys are getting a similar amount of reps in practice, because though Jones is going to play the first, Meyer wants to be sure both are ready.
Is that the issue? Are the lack of consistent reps with the first team leading to struggling in game reps?
"There might be some truth to that," Meyer said. "Not that I'm going to call some armchair people and ask them what they think."
Some armchair coaches probably think Meyer should pick one guy and stick with him no matter what happens on Saturday afternoons. Football is as much, if not more, of a mental game than it is physical, so even though Barrett and Jones said all summer and fall they would be good with whoever starts its difficult to not be looking over their shoulder. It is human nature.
But Jones could also be worried about getting yanked when he trots out to start the game. Barrett could be doing the same when he's in, wondering if a silly mistake could cause Meyer to go back to Jones.
"I do believe in game reps. And that's how players get better," Meyer said. "And that's something that I'm going to — I'm going to spend a lot of time thinking about that."
The media didn't get to speak with either quarterback following the game Saturday, instead only hearing from Elliott and Decker on the offense. Jones was brought out after the Virginia Tech and Hawai'i games, speaking about a need for him to perform better to keep his job.
How exactly the two are thinking about the ying and yang at their position is only within their heads, but Meyer's comments, along with sluggish back-to-back performances, could lead the man with three national title rings to pick one quarterback and stick with him in hopes of finding some offensive continuity.
"No. 1, we've got to give our players the right stuff at the right time to give them a chance and then they have to execute it," Meyer said. "And I'm certainly not saying, 'Boy, the offensive line' — no, no, that's not it at all. So we have a long way to go, coaching and playing. The good thing is we're going to devote a lot of time to getting this thing right."
