After throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown on Ohio State's opening drive of the 2016 season, Buckeyes quarterback J.T. Barrett was nearly perfect the rest of the way in Saturday's 77-10 rout of Bowling Green. The redshirt junior from Witchita Falls, Texas was 21-for-31 passing for 349 yards and seven total touchdowns.
On Tuesday, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer addressed Barrett's performance and his overall level of play at this point.
"There's nothing quite like it to have a quarterback that has that savvy, experience and is very intelligent," Meyer said on the weekly Big Ten coaches teleconference. "I love coaching guys like that."
Meyer said Barrett's mind is what sets him apart. Now in his fourth year in the Ohio State program, he knows what to expect when out on the field. Meyer noted Barrett altered or changed the originial play call Saturday "at least 10 times during the course of the game."
"What defenses do nowadays is once you look over to the sideline, they change their defense," Meyer said. "But as long as the quarterback is controlling and managing it, it's hard for a defense to change what they're doing."
Ohio State recorded a school-record 776 yards of total offense in the 67-point win over the Falcons.
Additional Meyer notes:
- Meyer was asked for a specific answer to a question he had coming into the season-opener. "There were so many new names out there and I wanted to see how they'd perform and I thought they did very well."
- On redshirt freshman wide receiver K.J. Hill, Meyer said, "His only issue is consistency right now."
- Meyer was again asked about Malik Hooker wanting to leave the program during his freshman year. "95 to 99 percent of freshmen will, at one point, go through a phase where they want to leave."
- Meyer was asked about his days of rotating quarterbacks at Florida. "They had two different skill sets. ... I think it was a little bit like coach Strong did the other night."
- On the health of Sean Nuernberger and if he has a job when fully healthy, Meyer said, "He's getting close to being healthy and he's got to go beat [Tyler Durbin] out."
- On Curtis Samuel, Meyer said, "We've loved Curtis since he got here. For a variety of reasons, we maybe didn't utilize his skill set. This is the perfect storm for him right now."
The Big Ten went 12-2 during the opening weekend as just Rutgers and Northwestern were the only teams to lose. Wisconsin scored the league's biggest win of the weekend, a 16-14 victory over fifth-ranked LSU.
The conference's Week 2 slate leaves little to be desired with the marquee matchup coming between Penn State and Pittsburgh. Additionally, Illinois hosts 22nd-ranked North Carolina.
Along with Meyer, the league's 13 other head coaches gathered Tuesday on the Big Ten coaches weekly teleconference to discuss last week's games and preview this week's matchups. Some highlights from what each coach had to say are listed below.
Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern):
- There were no questions for Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald this week following the Wildcats' 22-21 loss to Western Michigan.
Jim Harbaugh (Michigan):
- Harbaugh on Michigan's debut and the state of the program: "They know they've got to do it again and then again the week after that."
- Harbaugh's message on continuing success was for Michigan to "build and attack."
- Harbaugh said he also feels high school players come into college programs now more ready to play right away because of the training they receive.
Paul Chryst (Wisconsin):
- "Happy with a good first win in our first game," Chryst said of the upset of LSU.
- On the benefit of playing a big-time non-conference game in Week 1, Chryst said, "Every kid learns from those experiences."
- Chryst on the new contract for Iowa's Kirk Ferentz: "I have a ton of respect for what he's done and how he does it."
Mike Riley (Nebraska):
- Riley called Nebraska's opponent this week, Wyoming, a "program on the rise."
- On the team's togetherness following the Sam Foltz tribute, Riley said, "Something like that even is kind of a lifetime changing event in some ways. Each individual handles it and learns from it differently and certainly, everyone has a different perspective. Everyone has a different appreciation for their friends, families, teammates and everything."
Mark Dantonio (Michigan State):
- Michigan State has a bye this weekend but plays Notre Dame next week. "I thought they're a very exciting team to watch," he said. "They spread you out and they're an excellent football team."
Kirk Ferentz (Iowa):
- On this weekend's matchup with Iowa State, Ferentz said, "It's a big, big game in our state, certainly."
- Ferentz on his new contract: "I'm just really thrilled to get it done. I feel very, very fortunate and honored to be the coach at Iowa."
Tracy Claeys (Minnesota):
- Claeys on the message to his team after three targeting calls in Week 1: "We didn't talk about a lot. The rule hasn't changed so we've just reminded them to lowered the target."
- Claeys was asked if he would make any changes to the targeting rule. "There's still some gray area in there just like what's a catch and what's not a catch," he said. "As we go on, hopefully, that gray area can be eliminated."
Chris Ash (Rutgers):
- Ash on his coaching debut: "Disappointed in the outcome in last week's game. We did not play to our full potential."
- Ash was asked about Ohio State wide receiver K.J. Hill, whom he helped recruit for the Buckeyes, and said after Ash left Arkansas that Hill and his family reached out to him at Ohio State and expressed their interest in the school. Hill signed with the Buckeyes in the 2015 class.
Lovie Smith (Illinois):
- On the similarities between Illinois and the Chicago Bears, Smith said, "Very familiar with the connection with the University of Illinois and the Chicago Bears. We have the same colors, a lot of the same things. We're very proud of that."
DJ Durkin (Maryland):
- There were no questions this week for DJ Durkin following Maryland's 52-13 win against Howard.
Darrell Hazell (Purdue):
- Hazell: "It's a great time to be a Boilermaker."
- On Cincinnati, Hazell said, "They do a nice job running the football and they set up their play-action pass. Defensively, they've got a really nice linebacker who plugs the gap and runs sideline to sideline really well."
James Franklin (Penn State):
- On the Pittsburgh-Penn State game and the term 'rivalry,' Franklin said, "I think it's an important game. I don't think there's any doubt about that."
Kevin Wilson (Indiana):
- "It was a strong win, a good win, but we need improvement in all phases."
