Ohio State QB Barrett likely to play despite knee surgery
J.T. Barrett has seen enough Big Ten Championship games from the sideline.
So just six days after undergoing surgery on his injured right knee, the Ohio State quarterback is preparing to start on Saturday against No. 4 Wisconsin.
Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer said Friday that Barrett, the three-time conference quarterback of the year, has been cleared to play after undergoing 15 hours of treatment per day since having a procedure he did not specify.
“Certain people probably couldn’t do it, but J.T.’s a little different,” Meyer said after confirming Barrett had surgery following last week’s win at Michigan. “He’s just a very unique individual.”
Most players, Meyer noted, require at least two or three weeks to recover from minor knee surgery. Barrett, however, was throwing at practice Wednesday and took his regular regimen of snaps Thursday. If his recovery continues into Saturday, Barrett will start.
“It takes a rare individual to do that because there is a pain threshold,” Meyer said. “That’s not normal.”
The No. 8 Buckeyes (102, 8-1 Big Ten) must figure out how effective he will be.
Meyer acknowledged Ohio State needs Barrett to be close to full mobility against one of the nation’s stingiest defenses. And if Barrett isn’t himself, Meyer will go with redshirt freshman Dwayne Haskins, who led the Buckeyes to 17 straight points to rally for the win over the Wolverines.
Barrett has been here before — and so have the Badgers (12-0, 9-0).
Three years ago, Barrett fractured his ankle against Michigan then cheered on backup Cardale Jones during a 59-0 rout of Wisconsin in the title game. Jones and the Buckeyes went on to defeat Alabama and Oregon to finish as national champion.
Back then, Wisconsin didn’t know much about Jones.
This time, with another potential playoff ticket at stake, the Badgers have a better sense of what they’ll face — with or without Barrett.
“Certainly you want to get an idea of what you may see,” Badgers coach Paul Chryst said of having film of both quarterbacks. “But it’s just one piece of it and we’ve got to make sure that our group focuses on the whole picture.”