The Browns played well despite loss to Broncos
October 19, 2015Kyrie Irving hooked Mo Williams up with some rare heat
October 19, 2015Following the Buckeyes’ blackout victory over Penn State, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer’s postgame press conference was almost entirely about the two quarterbacks: J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones. Seven weeks into the 2015 college football season, the most talked about college football question during the spring and fall camp remains a pertinent question – who should be the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback?
In the Buckeyes primetime matchup against the Nittany Lions, it was Barrett who blacked-out the Penn State defense, not Jones. Given the red-zone duties against Maryland, the red-shirt sophomore went 6-for-6 inside the 20-yard line with six touchdowns against the Terrapins. He continued his success against Penn State as the Buckeyes were 6-for-6 in the red zone with five touchdowns.
Barrett’s biggest plays Saturday night came when he ran the read-option, and he did an incredible job with those reads.
“The equalizer was — especially when they started moving, when you can read a defender and (Barrett) pulls it, he goes, and it’s some big plays from them,” Meyer said of the quarterback.
Instead of just playing him in the red zone, Meyer decided to go to Barrett outside of the red zone as well to start the second quarter. Although Jones still saw playing time, it was evident the offense was in much better shape with Barrett behind center Saturday night.
Against Penn State, Barrett played 32 plays that turned into 270 yards and five touchdowns. Cardale Jones? 34 plays, 141 yards, zero touchdowns.
On Jones’ somewhat poor play against Penn State, Meyer said that No. 12 had a few overthrows.
“They were defending the pass pretty well, and (Jones) had a few misfires,” Meyer said.
The Buckeyes not only scored all five of their touchdowns with Barrett at quarterback, but they also averaged twice as many yards per play with him behind center: 8.4 yards per play.
One of Barrett’s touchdown passes was a jump-pass to Braxton Miller, a play that reminded many of Meyer’s Florida days with Tim Tebow.
“The offensive staff has been working on that for a while,” said Meyer of the Barrett-to-Miller connection. “J.T. is a great manager. Glad to see Braxton get a play out of that, too, because he’s a run threat out there. And they did pretty good.”
Although it might look obvious to some Ohio State fans, Meyer and his coaching staff said that they still need time to think about (and watch film of) who will be the starting quarterback next weekend when they travel to Rutgers.
7 Comments
I think it’s time to go back to Barrett. During the playoffs last year, Cardale was shedding tackles and truckin’ chumps. This year he just looks like a big, slow guy.
After that second half there should be no debate about QB.
I was the bandleader for starting Cardale at the beginning of the year, but I think it’s time for JT. It was a nice run, Cardale. We’ll never forget ast year. Friends4Ever. Go JT!
Here’s the thing about Urban Meyer. I’m pretty sure he’s a jedi wizard ninja with a vision and plan that exceeds just the week-to-week of the season. I can’t help but think that his plan at QB is looking into December and January, and his goofy, “gosh, I just don’t know what do do” bit is just jedi ninja wizardry.
He was also having fun, playing because he had nothing to lose. That guy doesn’t exist this year – because he now has everything to lose.
With Herman’s exit so went Cardale’s strengths. Urban doesn’t play the Herman offense, Cardale doesn’t play the Urban offense.
I have two theories on Cardale getting the starting nod with Urban knowing he wouldn’t be running the same offense as the year previous:
1. He gave Cardale his props for doing what he did last year knowing that Jones would eventually play himself out of the role making it easier for him to hand it back to JT.
2. JT wasn’t fully recovered and Urban was protecting him
Jones looks like he’s hesitating on almost every pass attempt last year he just dropped back and fired. I think between the new offensive coordinator, the addition of Braxton Miller and possibly the loss of Devin Smith has him unsure. I keep hoping each week we see more of last year’s #12 but it hasn’t happened and OSU is nearing the point where they have to start building towards the last few games of the regular season schedule.
I refuse to believe Urban Meyer is simply incompetent. Therefore, my only conclusion is that this “uncertainty” is an effort to protect the ego of Cardale Jones. Barrett is clearly the more effective QB for this team right now. I’m forever grateful for what 12 Gauge did to get us that title last season, but it’s time to move on and let current performance determine what the team does.