My Sportsman of the Year: J.T. Barrett

Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year is an annual must-read. Sadly, that the national recognition rarely has anything to do with the teams or individuals whom we cover. In turn, WFNY will soon announce its choice for 2014’s Cleveland Sportsman of the Year. Here’s one of the nominations for that honor by an WFNY writer.

As volcanic as this writer can be in his sports reactions, I can still remember looking at my phone this summer with the headlines that Braxton Miller would miss the upcoming season with a shoulder injury. My scarlet blood turned gray and a boulder of realization plummeted into the pit of my stomach. A season with so much promise, and maybe even an outside shot at making the inaugural College Football Playoff, were dashed with the loss of one of the Heisman front-runners and the Swiss Army knife on offense in Miller. I had the same feeling just last Saturday afternoon watching The Game. The fact that the level of emotion had rebounded so tremendously only to fall so hard once again is nothing but a credit to the improbable season that J.T. Barrett has had. For that, he deserves nomination for WFNY’s Sportsman of the Year.

I’ve been a Buckeye fan for a long time, but from the time I set foot on campus in Columbus, Ohio State fans have been accustomed to a certain type of quarterback. From Smith to Pryor to Miller, a dual-threat quarterback has dominated the scarlet and gray backfield for better part of the decade and through three head coaches. Each has had their own set of strengths and weaknesses along with a different run/pass balance that made them unique in their own right, but none of these high-profile fan favorites were able to do so effectively what Barrett has done so early in his Buckeye career.

Smith became full-time starter in Columbus halfway through his sophomore season. Pryor had a bit of a time-share with Todd Boeckman in his freshman year though he did play in every game. Miller had to compete with Joe Bauserman. In those seasons, Ohio State was not a national title contender. In ‘04, it was a 8-4 finish. In ‘08, the Buckeyes did make a BCS Bowl as a 2-loss team, only to be heartbroken by Anderson Russell’s missed tackle against the Longhorns in the Fiesta Bowl. In 2011, Miller quarterbacked the Buckeyes through their darkest season in ages, a 6-7 campaign that included a loss to an equally putrid Florida team in the Outback Bowl.

Barrett was not well known heading into the season. Only the die-hard recruiting trail followers knew more than a blurb or two about his back story. Sure, he was a Top 300 player out of Texas, a dual-threat QB ranked in and around the top ten of that style in his class. Still, the biggest storyline he was to be involved in was an offseason and early summer battle with Cardale Jones for the backup slot. When Miller was ruled out, Urban Meyer calmly stated that Barrett was their man and the objective had not wavered. Only the most eternal of optimists outside of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center believed it though.

On September 6, I made the pilgrimage back to The Shoe with my Dad to watch Barrett and the Buckeyes take on Virginia Tech. The Hokies manhandled the Buckeyes up front as the scarlet and gray were thoroughly out-coached as the Bear defense chewed up their still-green offensive line and spit them out all over the field. Barrett was under duress constantly, and it showed. The redshirt freshman was rattled after being sacked seven times and throwing three interceptions, including the final one being taken back for a pick six to ice the game with under a minute to play. On that night, Barrett was just 9-for-29 for 219 yards and one passing touchdown, scampering for 70 more yards on 24 carries and one more touchdown on the ground. Quite simply, Barrett got caught up too much in trying to make the huge play rather than keep the ball moving. I left that game on the long walk and drive home thinking it was going to be a forgettable season of Buckeye football with the growing pains of a young signal caller.

But, a funny thing happened on the way to Ohio State’s road to ruin. They didn’t lose again. Sure, there were some close calls. The double overtime escape in Happy Valley against a mediocre Penn State squad. The trap game at home just two weeks ago against Indiana. The rivalry game with Michigan. That doesn’t even mention the team’s two most difficult games: road victories against Michigan State and Minnesota in consecutive weeks.

The stats alone are enough for Barrett’s inclusion in the discussion for Sportsman of the Year. The newly-minted First-Team All-Big Ten quarterback set a school and conference record with responsibility for 45 touchdowns (34 passing, 11 rushing) while throwing for 2834 yards and completing just under 65% of his passes. He’s used his legs to average 5.5 yards per carry and 938 yards on the ground. That’s over 300 yards of total offense and nearly four touchdowns per game on a slate that included some top defenses, including Penn State (3rd), Michigan State (7th), Michigan (10th), and Virginia Tech (18th). He set the school record by throwing for six touchdowns against Kent State. He also accounted for five total touchdowns in three different conferences games, including Michigan State. In seven of his last nine games, he was asked to carry the ball 14 times or more. Still, he was able to spread the ball to seven different receivers for multiple touchdowns with no one player catching more than 40 passes. He also co-existed seamlessly with running back Ezekiel Elliott and helped him run for nearly 1200 yards.

Barrett’s made his fair share of mistakes with overthrowing deep passes and gambling on some aggressive throws. However, his pocket awareness, strong discipline to stay in the pocket under pressure and keep his eyes downfield, and the ability to pick his windows to run effectively without that top-end speed is unlike what we saw from Pryor or Miller at such an early age with such little experience. Three of Barrett’s signature moments have to be the 86-yard jaunt early against Minnesota, the 3rd-and-a-mile pick-up prayer against Michigan State with his team down in the second half, and the improbable gritty runs against Penn State in overtime despite just 74 yards passing on the day.

This Ohio State team is still playing for their entrance in the College Football playoff on Saturday night in Indianapolis against Wisconsin. There’s no guarantee that they’ll get in even with a win against their third ranked opponent of the season, all within the last five weeks. But, despite losing Carlos Hyde, Braxton Miller, and 80% of an elite offensive line with multiple rookie starters in the NFL, J.T. Barrett has taken himself to the doorstep of New York City for the Heisman and his team to the doorstep of the four-team playoff.

While it’s a shame that Barrett isn’t going to be able to finish the job on the field this season, he does have three more years as a Buckeye to carve out his role among the Buckeye greats of the past. It’s astounding that a fifth-year senior Heisman candidate may have to consider a transfer or foregoing his final year of eligibility to head to the NFL because his starting job may not be there for him.

Often at this site, Buckeyes sometimes have to (rightfully or not) overcome an informal, undocumented conversion factor if you will to be considered on the same level as their Cleveland counterparts. In this case, Barrett has done that and more. When you factor in what everyone knew about J.T. Barrett as a player just four months ago, the case is clear.

In the next man up world that is football, J.T. Barrett picked up the baton and sped away to new heights. It makes his absence for the biggest game of the year all the more unnerving. The feelings of disappointment and loss however are nothing but a tribute to Barrett’s dream season.