COLUMBUS – Despite helping lead the underdog Ohio State Buckeyes to a 49-37 road win against the defending conference champion Michigan State Spartans, talk of quarterback J.T. Barrett winning the Heisman Trophy is premature.
Barrett, who would replace 2013 B1G 10 Offensive Player Of the Year in senior quarterback, Braxton Miller re-injured his shoulder this past summer, has played some of the best football any quarterback in the country in passing for 2,156 yards, 26 touchdowns and rushing for 582 yards and eight touchdowns.
In emerging into one of college football’s premier dual-threat signal callers in his brief career, Barrett has suddenly become one of the trendy new names in the 2014 Heisman race.
Thanks to completing 64.4 percent of his passes and averaging 9.25 yards per attempt, Barrett has the second-highest passer rating in FBS (172.9) trailing Marcus Mariota of Oregon and the fifth-best QBR of 84.1
Barrett’s 26 passing touchdowns rank fifth and his 582 yards eighth among quarterbacks. The question is, is it enough?
Thanks to a stacked field that consists of the fore mentioned Mariota, Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott, Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon and TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin, Barrett needs a lot of things to fall his way down the stretch.
Other candidates such as reigning Heisman Trophy holder Jameis Winston, Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah, Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper and Miami (FL) running back Duke Johnson, make Barrett’s climb to the top of Mt. Heisman that much steeper.
Couple that into the bad reputation of the B1G nationally and the lack of quality wins early for Barrett, and his realistic chances to claim Ohio State’s eighth Heisman are remote.
While Barrett did earn his first signature win under center in East Lansing, sub-par performances against Virginia Tech at home and Penn State on the road, and padding his stats against the likes of Navy, Rutgers and Maryland could fail to impress Heisman voters.
While many Ohio State fans may feel that Barrett has an outside shot of going to New York, his chances—much like the Buckeyes chances of sneaking into the inaugural College Football Playoffs—are a proverbial longshot.
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