As many have surely heard by now, J.T. Barrett will start at quarterback for Ohio State on Saturday night at Rutgers, head coach Urban Meyer announced Tuesday on the Big Ten coaches weekly teleconference.
“J.T. has earned the right to start Saturday at Rutgers," Meyer said. "Just sheer production. Cardale is going to be a very active part, too; we hope to keep him very much involved.
"It was a difficult decision, but red zone production and third-down production were two areas that made the difference.”
Ohio State is 7-0 and the No. 1 team in the country, but at times has been ineffective offensively with Jones behind center. Saturday's 38-10 win over Penn State saw Barrett significantly outperform Jones for the first time, however, and prompted Meyer to make the switch.
"I have two great guys who I have a tremendous amount of respect for and I’m just trying to do the right thing," Meyer said.
Additional Meyer notes:
- Meyer didn't totally dismiss the notion that Barrett wasn't 100 percent healthy at the beginning of the season. "I do personally believe the confidence factor maybe wasn’t quite there because he didn’t do it in spring and in the summer he did and didn’t look exactly like he does now so there’s probably some truth to that,” he said.
- Meyer said Ohio State still plans to have Jones very much engaged. “Whether it’s doing what J.T. did as far as just staying into the game and coaching J.T., I expect to be very similar in that role," Meyer said. Not necessarily in the red zone, but we’ll see how he practices this week.”
- Meyer said senior linebacker Joshua Perry was upgraded from questionable to probable for Saturday's game with his ankle sprain. "Today’s a big day because they’re gonna go out and try and run him,” Meyer said.
- Meyer said in the absence of Tommy Schutt you can expect to see Donovan Munger, Michael Hill or Joel Hale get the start at defensive tackle.
- Meyer said Rutgers wide receiver Leonte Carroo, who is questionable for Saturday's game, is "an NFL player."
The Big Ten still has three undefeated teams: Ohio State, Michigan State and Iowa. With four teams on bye, this weekend's league slate is rather lackluster as the highlight games include Ohio State at Rutgers and Wisconsin at Illinois.
In addition to Meyer, the Big Ten's other 13 coaches spoke on Tuesday's weekly teleconference. Highlights from each additional coach can be seen below.
Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern):
- Fitzgerald asked about the strength of Big Ten defenses: "I've been very impressed with the teams that we've played. The defenses are playing very well and I know it's a point of emphasis on most teams to try and have your defense as stout as you can."
- Fitzgerald asked about the backlash Michigan's punter received on social media following Saturday's game. "Unfortunately, that's just the world that we live in."
Jim Harbaugh (Michigan):
- "[Michigan State] played extremely good defense," Harbaugh said. "It was stout, they did a good job."
- Harbaugh asked when he thought the final play had a chance to go for a touchdown. "I guess when they had the ball and started running."
- Harbaugh on Michigan's bye week: "We'll look at it as an opportunity to improve."
- "There's never one football play in a game that decides the game."
- Harbaugh on whether or not it bothers him when he hears his name mentioned with other open coaching jobs: "I won't comment on it; I look at it as disrespectful."
Paul Chryst (Wisconsin):
- Chryst on Big Ten defenses: "I've always had a ton of respect for the defenses in this conference. I think there's always been really good defensive teams that we well-coached with good players."
Mike Riley (Nebraska):
- Riley on social media backlash: "It's a tough world that way. I've given many little talks about the fact that you don't want to gain your identity about what everybody else is thinking about you on social media."
- Riley on the play of quarterbacks in the Big Ten: "I think it's good. I've seen some guys making big-time plays and some efficiency at quarterback."
Mark Dantonio (Michigan State):
- Dantonio on the Michigan game: "With 10 seconds left, obviously things didn't look promising, but we were going to make an effort."
- On the social media backlash in college football: "I think it's very disappointing, but that's the world we're living in right now, too. It's very unfortunate."
- Dantonio on how he plans to rebound after such a big win: It’s how you handle the moments after that. Our dreams are important, our dreams are all in front of us."
Kirk Ferentz (Iowa):
- Ferentz on the strength of the defenses in the Big Ten: "There are other parts of the country where scoring takes a premium, but I think for us, historically, you've seen a lot of good defensive play and that's a trademark of the league."
Jerry Kill (Minnesota):
- "We've gotta get some bodies healed up; we've been banged up pretty good. We're hoping this week helps us heal up and get ready for Michigan."
Kyle Flood (Rutgers):
- Flood on Ohio State: “Well-deserved No. 1 team in the country and they certainly look that way on film."
- Flood on which Ohio State quarterback Rutgers is preparing for: "I think you've gotta get ready to play them both."
- Flood said J.T. Barrett's running ability makes things difficult for defenses because it also puts defenses in situations where they must go one-on-one with wide receivers.
- On the theory you need to run the ball to keep explosive offenses on the sideline, Flood said, "It's effective as long as you're scoring touchdowns."
- Flood: "Saturday night will be the best atmosphere in all of college football."
Bill Cubit (Illinois):
- Cubit: "The bye week really helped us out getting ourselves ready for a really good Wisconsin team."
- Cubit said Illinois is preparing for Wisconsin running back Corey Clement to play this week.
Mike Locksley (Maryland):
- Locksley: "We're still pretty new to the conference but we've benefited quite a bit as a program from being in the Big Ten."
Darrell Hazell (Purdue):
- Hazell: "I thought we played pretty well, but obviously didn't get the win at Wisconsin against a good football team."
James Franklin (Penn State):
- Franklin on what makes Big Ten defenses so tough: "I think it's the fronts, it starts up front."
- Franklin on the length of college football games: "I don't have a strong opinion because it hasn't affected us a lot to this point."
Kevin Wilson (Indiana):
- Wilson on dealing with tough losses such as last week to Rutgers: "We've tried to move positively and turn the page."
