J.T. Barrett has secure role as starter

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COLUMBUS, Ohio- Where the quarterback goes, the team behind him usually follows. For quarterback J.T. Barrett and the Ohio State offense, that is exactly what happened against Oklahoma.

The fifth-year senior signal caller completed only 54.3 percent of his passing, throwing for 183 yards and an interception in the Buckeyes’ 31-16 loss to the Sooners.

Going back to the 2016 season, Barrett has thrown for under 200 yards passing in four of his last five games, completing less than 55 percent of his passes in three of those five games. That has affected his ability to score as well, throwing only four touchdowns in the last five games compared to four interceptions.

As the face of the offense, Barrett knows about the kind of attention that a player gets at his position any given Saturday.

“That’s how playing quarterback works,” Barrett said. “When you are winning, I get too much credit. When we lose, I’m the one to blame too. It’s rightfully so. I didn’t play well. Missed a lot of throws. Like I said, it’s a game of inches and so, it’s the life of a quarterback.”

With these struggles as of late, players in the Ohio State locker room have heard rumblings from the fan base, calling for a change behind center. After the loss to the Sooners, coach Urban Meyer said that there would be no change heading into the third game of the season against Army West Point.

“I've been here, I think, six years now,” Meyer said. “I'm never going to point a finger at a quarterback.”

Center Billy Price echoed that sentiment, mentioning that his fellow captain has brought his program to a point where most in the country have not achieved.

With Kevin Wilson coming in as offensive coordinator and Ryan Day coming on as the quarterbacks’ coach, the expectations for the Ohio State offense, and especially Barrett were sky high. Both were raving about the accuracy and tempo of the offense, playing against one of the top defenses in the country every practice.

However, according to Meyer, the opposing pass defenses that his offense has faced in the first two games have had a common theme.

“Both teams we've played now, they're dropping in the coverage a lot,” Meyer said. “So we just have to keep evaluating what we're doing.”

Barrett says that was a look that the Buckeye offense was not necessarily prepared for heading into the season.

“Going against our defenses was a lot more man coverage,” Barrett said. “We don’t see a lot of spot coverage going into our defense, so, with that, sitting in zones.”

No matter what the defensive game plan is on the other side of the ball, Wilson stresses that there is more to the offensive unit that just one quarterback. Every part of the offense needs to be in sync.

“We do have to play collectively, together,” Wilson said. “Because J.T. Barrett is a really good quarterback when his surrounding parts are well. That includes the coaches and the game planning and the structure of practice, to give those guys a great chance.”

Meyer reiterated that the offense that Wilson is talking about has the best chance to win with Barrett in charge of it.

“I'm going to make it perfectly clear, there's not a bull's eye on J.T. Barrett,” Meyer said. “It's part of the system and a group that have to get better.”

That kind of confidence did not stem out of nowhere. It came from experience.

Barrett talked about how similar this felt to him to the Virginia Tech home loss in 2014, when the Buckeyes fell to the Hokies 35-21 in Week 2 of the season.

In that loss, Barrett struggled, completing only nine of 29 pass attempts for 219 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions.

However, when asked about what he felt when told that Meyer has no intention to open the quarterback battle, he felt that his coach had the confidence in him because he had been there before. In the game after the loss to the Hokies, Barrett completed 76.7 percent of his passes and threw for 312 yards with six touchdowns and an interception against Kent State.

To Barrett, this is only one game in the midst of a long season. But, there is no denying that there will be things to work on heading into next Saturday.

“Any year, when you talk about people that win a championship, there are always things that you can get better at,” Barrett said. “It’s game two. I didn’t play well, we didn’t play well and there is growth to this.”