Why Ohio State remains confident in J.T. Barrett as a passer
MADISON, Wis. — Urban Meyer loves dual-threat quarterbacks, and for good reason. They can beat you both with their legs and with their arm — which means that his Buckeyes teams beat opponents with a balanced offensive attack.
When the offense is imbalanced — as it appeared two weeks ago against Indiana — there’s cause for concern. Redshirt junior quarterback J.T. Barrett’s passing game was underwhelming against the Hoosiers. He was 9-for-21 for 93 yards, one touchdown and one interception, which stood in stark contrast to his own running game, which produced 137 rushing yards and a score. (Ohio State won by three touchdowns, by the way.)
No, the sky was not falling. But the passing game needed to get better — quickly — before Saturday’s marquee matchup at Wisconsin.
“We just kind of went back to some fundamentals and techniques,” Ohio State co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tim Beck told Paste BN Sports. “Just trying to get back to the basics and not trying to blow everything up all of the sudden because of one game.”
Beck also wanted to make sure Barrett wasn’t overthinking things; this had been problematic before.
Last year, entering fall camp to compete in the nation’s most scrutinized quarterback race, Barrett was too much in his head. He’s a smart player, but sometimes this can be a detriment.
“I was thinking too much,” Barrett said at Big Ten media days this summer. “I like playing fast, but I wasn’t even doing that. I was sitting there, thinking and trying to break down every potential situation. Honestly, I have nobody else to blame but myself.”
Against Wisconsin on Saturday, Barrett wasn’t perfect. But he was decisive, fast and effective. His stat line showed some of that: 17-for-29 for 226 yards, one touchdown and one interception (which came during a three-minute flash flood), with 92 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns.
But more impressive was the way he wrangled himself out of sacks, skedaddled past defenders and made crucial third- and fourth-down conversions. Now, Beck sees a quarterback who is relying on his instincts more than he’s overthinking things.
“Well, maybe at times, waiting for a guy to get open,” Beck said. “He’s a really smart player so he might see a certain coverage and go, ‘OK, well this is the guy who should be open,’ and waiting for him instead of doing what he’s seeing, trusting his eyes, going with his feet.
“Later in the game, he ran some when guys were covered and made some big plays. That’s when I knew he’s getting more comfortable.”
And, a week after a game in which the Ohio State passing game was much maligned, the game-winning touchdown was a 7-yard pass from Barrett to Noah Brown — a beautiful fade route to the right corner, perfect execution of a play the two had practiced countless times together.
The play call had been made on third-and-2 on the opening possession of overtime. Meyer said later, “We liked that matchup (against Wisconsin defensive back Derrick Tindal), and I actually said, ‘Make sure Noah’s in there because he’s our guy.’ ”
“J.T. Barrett was not outstanding, but he’s one of the toughest cats I’ve ever been around,” Meyer said. “I know who I want behind center in these kinds of environments, and that’s J.T. Barrett.”
After it was all over — and about four Ohio State defenders had sacked Wisconsin quarterback Alex Hornibrook to end the game — Barrett said he felt the Buckeyes passing game was in a good place, and that he’d executed pretty well against the Badgers. He’d played the best he could, he said, and he’d continue to work hard to play better.
That’s why Ohio State wants this guy under center, no matter what down and distance, no matter how much he’d struggled in the air a week earlier. That’s why the coaching staff called a fade route with the game on the line. That’s why they’ll ride both Barrett’s legs and arms as far as they’ll take them.
The Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) visit Penn State (4-2, 2-1) this week.
“You want everything to be as clean as you can, and be really perfect. Did he play perfect (Saturday)? No. But he played gutsy,” Beck said. “We completed balls when we needed to, made some big throws and some big plays. We’d been clicking on all cylinders for awhile. We’d like to maintain that, obviously, but that’s hard to do, and you’re going to have some missed throws.
"I like where he’s at, how he’s competing and how he made big throws when he had to make them.”
HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEEK 7