Barrett ‘confident’ he'll play in Big Ten title game
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — J.T. Barrett said he didn’t get a good look at the culprit.
For the sake of the person who did bump the quarterback’s knee on the sideline Saturday at the start of Ohio State’s 31-20 victory over Michigan, he better hope no one does. Especially Urban Meyer. “Someone on your frickin’ sideline and you hurt your quarterback,” the angry Ohio State coach said. “We’ll find out who that was. It’s an all-out investigation.”
Barrett was warming up before Ohio State’s first possession when someone bumped into his right knee.
“I don’t know who it was,” Barrett said. “Michigan has a lot of people on our sideline, whether it be fans or photo/camera people. I don’t know. He bumped me in my knee and it kind of shifted in.”
Meyer said “a guy with a camera” bumped into Barrett. The quarterback wasn’t sure.
“I didn’t really see a camera,” he said. “I remember he was wearing something gray and he continued to walk (away). I’m pretty sure he got a little nervous. I didn’t recognize his face. I’m pretty sure he didn’t come back down the sideline.”
Barrett revealed that he has played with a meniscus issue since the season opener against Indiana. Normally, when his knee twists, he said, he’s able to pop it back into place and play normally.
That’s what he did for the first 2½ quarters Saturday until he got hit on a 10-yard scramble. Because of the earlier bump, his knee swelled to the point that he couldn’t pop it back into place.
“It’s not anything too crazy,” Barrett said. “I’ve played with it this whole year. This time it just didn’t unlock for me.”
Barrett went into the locker room in hopes of being able to return, but he couldn’t. Dwayne Haskins Jr. replaced him and directed the Buckeyes to three touchdowns for the win.
Barrett said he expects to be able to play Saturday against Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game.
“I’m confident,” he said. “This has happened before. Injured really is not the term for it — just hurt.”
Barrett said the injury didn’t really affect his performance, but it wasn’t his best game. He had a 21-yard touchdown run for Ohio State’s first touchdown and threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Baugh on the next possession to tie the score.
But on Ohio State’s other six possessions with Barrett, the Buckeyes didn’t get a first down. He ran for 67 yards on 15 carries, but other than the Baugh touchdown, he was 2-of-7 for 5 yards passing.
Barrett credited Michigan with showing different looks that frustrated Ohio State early.
“They get paid over there, too, as far as defensive coaches,” he said. “They had a good game plan scheming us. We really couldn’t get the ball outside (on runs) like we wanted to. They had some nuances we weren’t expecting and had to make some adjustments.”