J.T. Barrett Sparks Ohio State's Rout of Penn State, But Urban Meyer and Company Aren't Ready to Make Decision on a Change at Quarterback

By Eric Seger on October 18, 2015 at 1:49 am
J.T. Barrett leads Ohio State to win against Penn State, but no change at quarterback yet for Ohio State.
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Thanks to Urban Meyer's patented jump pass, Ohio State had all but put away Penn State and would remain unbeaten on the season. J.T. Barrett, the Buckeyes' captain and quietly confident redshirt sophomore quarterback, trotted back to the sideline in earnest.

An ear-to-ear smile across his face, Barrett hugged Meyer, shook hands with his teammates and maneuvered along the Ohio State sideline. He snatched his jacket and headset from an assistant coach, tossed both on his body, then moved to the section of the bench where his offensive line sat.

Waving a finger at each one, Barrett passed out high-fives and head taps. Jacoby Boren, Chase Farris, Pat Elflein, Taylor Decker and Billy Price all got one, each responding with the zeal that they knew they'd just done what they had set out to do — and enjoyed every minute of it.

"I think there are times where teams say, 'OK, we've had enough.' A checkmate, things like that," Barrett told reporters after the Buckeyes dispatched Penn State, 38-10, Saturday at Ohio Stadium. "So with that, it was one of those types of things where we looked at the offensive line and said, 'Hey, it's about that time. Let's make sure we get them out of there.'

"That was the main thing, make sure we keep driving and get a touchdown on that drive, which we did."

Barrett's first touchdown pass in nearly a month came on a signature play Tim Tebow made famous at Florida under Meyer. Suck the defense in near the goal line after shredding it all night beforehand on quarterback runs, then hop over the line and fire a quick strike to your wide receiver. The guy on the receiving end just happened to be Braxton Miller, and those on the receiving end of the knockout blow were the Penn State Nittany Lions.

"I just read that we were 6-for-6 in the red zone again, so that's 12-for-12 in the last 12 times we've been in there," said Meyer, who won his 20th consecutive game for the fourth time in his coaching career. "First of all, that's a lot of times in there, which is good.

"Second thing is just let me evaluate it, let you guys know on Monday, and go from there."

"It" is the Buckeye quarterback battle, a bout between Barrett and Cardale Jones that lasted throughout training camp and bled into the regular season. The two were listed as co-starters on the depth chart the first month of the season, but then Jones became the sole starter as the Buckeyes went to Indiana.

Ohio State beat the Hoosiers, 34-27, and Barrett didn't play a snap. The Buckeyes returned home and Meyer decided to insert the calm Texan in red zone situations against lowly Maryland, witnessing the immediate results as he mentioned. It started that way Saturday night against the Nittany Lions, but then Barrett solely took the reins in the third quarter and finished the game.

"It's too early to make any decisions right now," offensive coordinator Ed Warinner said of a potential switch at starting quarterback. "It's the head coach's decision first of all, second of all we'll have a consult about it, but there's a reason we had Cardale starting and we just have to assess where we're at right now."

“It's Coach Meyer's call, but at the end of the day I'm just trying to help the team win. Maybe I go into the red zone or elsewhere, I don't think it matters. When I'm in there, just trying to do the best I can to not let the team down.”– J.T. Barrett

It is Meyer's choice, and it seemed he went with Jones and was going to stick with him. The junior, however, finished 9-of-15 for 84 yards Saturday and is not the run threat Barrett is — his four rushes netted -16 yards, while Barrett ran 11 times for 102 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

"I think he sparked us," Warinner said of Barrett. "Some of those things we did with him in there gave us some momentum. He had a big impact in the game."

Barrett's efficiency was noticeable to even the simplest of football eyes — the offense appeared to move better with him in at quarterback, though he only threw the ball four times for 30 yards. All were completed, including his final toss to Michael Thomas in the corner of the end zone with 4:14 remaining, the exclamation point on Ohio State's blackout of Penn State.

"Just try to go out there and do my best, help the team win and I feel like I got in a rhythm early," Barrett said. "It helps being able to run the ball, that gets me in a rhythm too."

He and Elliott combined for 255 rushing yards and three touchdowns, as Ohio State found creases against a stout Nittany Lion front led by the nation's sack leader, Carl Nassib.

Frankly, Barrett didn't have to throw much to beat the Nittany Lions on this night. The quarterback run plays were more than enough to seal the deal and get Ohio State it's third Big Ten victory and seventh of the season.

But is it enough to see his name inch up one spot on the depth chart?

"It's Coach Meyer's call, but at the end of the day I'm just trying to help the team win," Barrett said. "Maybe I go into the red zone or elsewhere, I don't think it matters. When I'm in there, just trying to do the best I can to not let the team down."

He didn't Saturday, re-opening the can of worms Meyer thought he'd closed with regards the the quarterback battle.

"Of course I care," Meyer said when asked if he cared about his players. "But the job is to go win a game. And we won. We beat a very good team by 28 points. Very good win. Of course I care."

Ohio State Quarterbacks vs. Penn State
PLAYER COMP-ATT YARDS TD INT RUSH ATT YARDS TD
CARDALE JONES 9-15 84 0 0 4 -16 0
J.T. BARRETT 4-4 30 2 0 11 102 2

He's got the unconditional trust of those guys he cares so deeply for, too.

"I don’t think that anybody doubts that Urban Meyer is a really good coach," left tackle and senior captain Taylor Decker said. "He knows more about quarterback than I know. I’ll just do my job in there. I love both of those guys and like I said, my favorite thing about that whole situation is there’s no divide in the locker room. There’s no divide between J.T. and Cardale; they love each other and they want each other to do well. Whoever’s the man is the man."

There are reasons Barrett was named the first ever sophomore captain in program history prior to the 2015 season. There are reasons he was the man toting the ball Saturday and leading his team to a win. And, there are reasons Meyer and his staff won't budge on announcing a decision to change starting quarterbacks — at least not right now.

"You try to win a game at whatever cost," Meyer said. "However you can do it."

Added Warinner: "We'll let this game settle over night, sleep on it and then we'll make some assessments. I don't anticipate any changes, but we'll see how it goes."

The Buckeyes are unbeaten and the No. 1 team in the country. They also have a very real issue at the most important position on the field, and the man dishing out the hugs and hand pounds after stepping on the throat of Penn State isn't going away anytime soon.

"I just try to do what I can. I don't know what the credentials are, or stats on the field in order to start at Ohio State," Barrett said. "Just try to get better in practice and my main thing is to make sure I'm a good practice player and try to focus on getting better in practice. The results will come out on Saturday."

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