It became pretty apparent after the Ohio State Buckeyes thrashing of Bowling Green that J.T. Barrett didn’t take to kindly to being backup to Cardale Jones last season. The Junior QB had one of the best performances in school history, and it’s only the beginning of what could be a record-breaking season.
After Barrett was the winning quarterback for the Buckeyes in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl, he came out firing to start the 2016 college football season. Barrett threw for 349 yards and six touchdowns in the team’s opener, and by doing so opened the eyes of quite a few in the college football world.
Ohio State looked dominant against Bowling Green, and Barrett seemed like a contender for the Heisman. While it’s still quite early for that talk to begin, he’s certainly elevated himself to elite QB status. And after a game like this, you almost need to question Urban Meyer’s decision to start Cardale Jones at the onset of the 2015 season.
Had Barrett not suffered an injury at the end of the 2014 season, many had gone on to say that he would have been a Heisman finalist that year. Now fully healthy, and with nobody in front of him to split reps, Barrett is ready to repeat his miraculous 2014, and possibly get the Buckeyes back to the college football playoffs, and with this team, it’s entirely feasible.
Ohio State is the class of the Big 10. Sure, Michigan might have something to say about that, but the Buckeyes are once again loaded on both offense and defense. Considering Urban Meyer lost Ezekiel Elliot, Michael Thomas, Braxton Miller, Joey Bosa and Eli Apple to the NFL, he’s able to reload and compete once again.
However, the Buckeyes will only be a competitive team if Barrett is under center. He’s the straw that stirs the drink for Ohio State. He’s not only more mature than his 2014 breakthrough year, but he’s hungry to prove that he has always been the Buckeyes best option at quarterback.
We will need to see how J.T. Barrett performs in the coming weeks to gauge the type of player he is, but if it’s anything like his 2014 season, you can expect Ohio State to be near unbeatable.
Follow Daniel James Gentile on Twitter @dgentleman9288