The sky is the limit for Ohio State with J.T. Barrett at QB
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — As Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett walked off the field late Saturday night, two television cameras shadowing his every step, his face was expressionless.
Barrett remained stoic, focused and not at all caught up in the giddiness of a 49-7 win against Rutgers, his first start of the season. To him, this sort of performance should be routine. To him, the offense should always fire on all cylinders. To him, this was not a unique night.
“There were no nerves,” Barrett said later. “I didn’t really feel pressure to play well or not. It was just letting the game come to me. Pressure is something if you aren’t prepared. If I were not prepared for the game, I’d feel a little pressure. But I feel like we prepared well offensively all week. I prepared myself well.”
Barrett had prepared himself well each of the past seven weeks, too, he said. He’d put in the time and effort as if he were the Buckeyes' starter, which he wasn’t. He wasn’t because he didn’t beat out Cardale Jones — until now.
“He’s in full swing now,” said Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, who officially named Barrett his starting QB this past week. Finally. He said this after he’d watched his offense look like it should. Finally.
And now, the move makes No. 1 Ohio State (7-0) the clear favorite to win a national championship. Finally.
A Barrett-led offense creates something that Jones couldn’t quite manufacture: Fear. Against the Scarlet Knights, Barrett threw for 223 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 101 yards and two more scores. It’s a small sample size for a starter, but it’s exactly the kind of performance he put on many times over a season ago.
“He is the prototype dual-threat quarterback, and he puts a tremendous amount of stress on your defense whenever he has the football,” Rutgers coach Kyle Flood said. “Because he can run it like a running back, and he throws it very well.”
Meyer termed it this way: Barrett creates a conflict for opposing defenses — particularly when he shows he can throw the deep ball, which he did against Rutgers. Meyer pointed out that his quarterback has to complete those shots down the field, not just take them. He also said his offense is “now” efficient, meaning it wasn’t with Jones.
All offseason and then throughout the first seven weeks of the season, one quarterback couldn’t exist without a comparison to the other. Meyer couldn’t get through a week without questions and some anxiety surrounding the position. As he enters the idle week having just watched Barrett take his offense to heights it hadn’t seen since last postseason, Meyer was asked if he feels more comfortable, now, with certainty at the position making a difference.
“It really does,” Meyer said. “I don’t want to admit that, but it does.”
And it does change things for the players themselves. Barrett said he prepared as if he were the starter every week of the season, just in case something happened to Jones. He certainly seemed ready when he entered the game in red zone situations the past few weeks. But he also reflected on why he hadn’t earned the starting job out of fall camp.
“I just didn’t play well,” Barrett said. “It was a simple as that. I didn’t play to the level I knew I was capable of playing at. I think that was the main thing. It was all on me, just trying to do too much. Coming back, being the No. 1 team in the country, all these great things, high expectations. I was trying to do too much myself. I was forcing stuff, trying to make the big throw or a big run instead of just letting the game come to me. I think that was one of the reasons I didn’t start.”
Now, Barrett feels he’s taking what the defense is giving him. He’s not trying too hard to make a splash; he’s swimming smoothly. He’s leading Ohio State the way he knows how — making smart decisions with the ball, allowing the Buckeyes to ride their rushing attack, develop the play-action passing threat and also “pitch and catch” with receivers down the field.
“That’s how we expect to play,” offensive lineman Taylor Decker said.
It took until Week 8 to do it, but the Buckeyes have found their offensive identity once again. It starts and ends with Barrett under center, just as so much of last year’s success did until his season-ending ankle injury. But this time around, Barrett is the key to the postseason, too.
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