Better Productivity: Why Ohio State's Urban Meyer Elected to Start J.T. Barrett Over Cardale Jones at Rutgers

Urban Meyer said not long ago J.T. Barrett hadn't done enough to beat out Cardale Jones for the starting quarterback job at Ohio State.

"The approach I've taken is Cardale started. He's the starting quarterback. I met with him yesterday. J.T. has not beat him out yet," Meyer said Sept. 14, when Ohio State sat 2-0 after beating Hawai'i, 38-0, two days earlier. "He's going to continue to have opportunities to do that because J.T. is a very good player and Cardale's got to perform."

Jones held onto the starting spot for five more weeks, but Meyer announced Tuesday on the Big Ten teleconference that's no longer the case.

"J.T.'s earned the right to start Saturday at Rutgers," Meyer said.

The man who's 45-3 at Ohio State and sports three national championship rings cited Barrett's productivity as the reason behind the switch four days ahead of the Buckeyes' trip to Piscataway, New Jersey.

“Just sheer production. Cardale's going to be on a very active part, too. We're hoping to keep him very much involved. It was a difficult decision, but red zone production and third down production were the two areas that made the difference and with the way he played Saturday.”– Urban Meyer

"Just sheer production. Cardale's going to be on a very active part, too. We're hoping to keep him very much involved," Meyer said. "It was a difficult decision, but red zone production and third down production were the two areas that made the difference and with the way he played Saturday."

Barrett became the red zone option at quarterback for Meyer the past two weeks, leading Ohio State to points on 12 such occasions, with 11 of them being touchdowns. He's scored seven of those on his own — five rushing, two passing — and the offense looked extremely more cohesive and efficient with him toting the ball on the read-option and being the running threat Jones simply is not.

Last season, Barrett suffered a fractured ankle early in the fourth quarter of Ohio State's eventual 42-28 victory over Michigan in the regular season finale. Jones finished off the Wolverines, then thrived in the post-season against Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon as his powerful right arm worked wonders in the downfield passing game with Devin Smith.

Smith is now gone to the NFL, as is fellow wide receiver Evan Spencer and tight end Jeff Heuerman, two captains and senior leaders who blocked in the edge running game better than anyone Meyer's ever had. But the absence of Smith, the 2014 Big Ten silver medalist in the outdoor high jump competition and "the best deep-ball catcher in America," according to Meyer, might have ultimately led to the starting quarterback job slipping through Jones' fingers.

"I don't want to go into too much detail other than his performance and the efficiency in the red zone and on third downs were the two reasons that we decided," Meyer said Tuesday when prompted with such a scenario.

Whether or not Meyer will entertain such an idea, it is evident that Barrett's ability and shiftiness as a runner has taken Ohio State's offense to new heights in recent weeks. Jones has missed open targets and succumbed to three-and-outs, while Barrett's moved the sticks and led a potent rushing attack against Maryland and Penn State.

However, that does not mean Barrett was the right choice at the beginning of the season. Meyer stood pat with what he said regarding the sophomore needing to beat Jones out for the job, something he hadn't done as he rehabbed from his ankle injury in the spring, then again in fall camp and as the season began. He got his chances against Northern Illinois (seven points in three quarters) and then completed one pass for zero yards and an interception the following week against Western Michigan. A statistical comparison:

Clearly, Barrett's production running the ball increased over the last two games when he became the red zone quarterback for the Buckeyes. Despite putting forth his best statistical day at Ohio State in a 38-10 victory over Maryland Oct. 10, Jones' numbers dipped against Penn State. The Nittany Lions sported a terrific front four and largely stopped Ezekiel Elliott in the running game early on because Jones wasn't much of threat with his legs. That prompted Meyer and Ed Warinner to go with Barrett full-time in order to negate a defender and move the chains to win the game.

As it turns out, it won Barrett the job. For now.

"There was disappointment, but they're grown men — both of them are. That stays between us. Am I at peace now? Not necessarily," Meyer said. "I don't know if I'm ever at peace during the course of a season because there's stuff always going on ... At peace about the quarterback position? Not necessarily. I've got two great guys that I have tremendous amount of respect for and I'm just trying to do the right thing."

Right now, that's using Barrett, who finished fifth in the 2014 Heisman Trophy voting, to lead the offense. Jones is set to still have a role, Meyer said, though he is unsure what it will be.

"Not sure. Whether it's doing what J.T. did as far as keeping, just staying into the game and coaching," Meyer said. "I expect Cardale to be in a very similar role as J.T. was. Not necessarily in the red zone. I haven't made those decisions yet."

Meyer handpicked Barrett as the first quarterback he recruited while at Ohio State for a reason, but went with Jones until Tuesday even though he had a new play caller in Warinner, a new quarterbacks coach in Tim Beck and the immense pressure of living up to the performances he put forth to win the College Football Playoff.

In the end, Ohio State yo-yoed its quarterbacks through the first seven weeks of the season, trying to figure things out while remaining No. 1 in the country and not losing. No harm done, but after his performance against Penn State, Barrett looked like the guy Meyer and Tom Herman pulled from the clutches of Texas.

He admitted after the game Saturday that he was pressing early in the season, but once Barrett let the game come to him the last two weeks he's been getting back to what made him so successful before the injury. That, too, could have been something holding him back early in 2015, Meyer said.

"It might have been a mental block on his own. He's such a cerebral, tough guy," Meyer said. "There's probably some truth to that."

The only truth now is that Meyer's chosen to go with Barrett for the foreseeable future — a move made on his recent production in important situations. Barrett seems to be best fit to lead this offense, with the lack of a deep threat working against Jones and Barrett's decisiveness as essentially a single-wing tailback in the read-option running game — which he's all but flawless at — moving the chains and scoring points.

After all, that's what matters most: Scoring points and winning games so Ohio State remains unbeaten and atop the rankings.

"Whatever it takes to win. I don't know — someone else should be standing here if there's some other purpose of our job," Meyer said Saturday night after beating Penn State. "And that's, first of all, I care about these players. And you try to win a game at whatever cost. However you can do it.

"And I want to make sure that this idea, care big time about these guys because, like I said, there's a lot of people in that locker room that are the very best and have done a lot of things. And I do care, but our job is to go win."