The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Ohio State defeats Maryland 49-28
That is the question Urban Meyer is tr ying to answer with J.T. Barrett spelling Cardale Jones in the red zone
COLUMBUS — There’s one sure way to keep a question from being asked day after day and week after week.
Find t he ri ght answer.
It took coach Urban Meyer six weeks to do it, but it appears the Ohio State head coach has found an answer to the question of how to make a two-quarterback system work.
In a 49-28 win over visiting Maryland on Oct. 10, reserve J.T. Barrett took over the offense when Ohio State reached the red zone. Starter Cardale Jones ran the show the rest of the game.
The plan worked, with Jones throwing for 291 yards and two touchdowns, and Barrett running for three touchdowns and guiding the Buckeyes to a 5-for-5 touchdown performance in the red zone.
The answer — or at least the sheer possibility of an answer — to the lingering quarterback conundrum didn’t come a moment too soon for Meyer, who all but breathed a sigh of relief this plan worked. At least for a week. “The attention to this thing,” Meyer said, exhaling deeply, of the incessant quarterbacking questions. “I’m exhausted from it. I don’t read my phone very often, so I can’t imagine what those two young guys (are going through).”
Meyer tinkered with the quarterback situation from the moment camp started in early August.
The Buckeyes went from an allout quarterback derby in preseason camp to weekly reevaluations of the quarterback situation, to pulling a quarterback in midgame if he wasn’t playing well at the time.
The most recent stab at figuring out how to get the best quarterback on the field looks like a winner.
The plan calls for Meyer to let Jones do what he does best — stretch the field with long passes — until Ohio State gets to the red zone (i.e. inside the 20-yard line), where Meyer inserts Barrett and lets him do what he does best — add a running threat to the Buckeyes’ offense.
The plan isn’t foreign to Meyer. In 2006, the Meyerled Florida Gators won a national championship — Ohio State fans will remember it well, as it ended with a 41-14 shellacking of the Buckeyes — using two quarterbacks. Chris Leak (2,942 yards passing, 22 TDs) was the predominant quarterback, until the Gators got to the red zone, where then-freshman Tim Tebow (469 yards rushing, 8 TDs) and his run-oriented skill set took over.
Playing in the newly concocted system against Maryland, Jones completed 21 of 28 passes for 291 yards and touchdown passes of 19 yards to Braxton Miller and 48 yards to Jalin Marshall. His passer rating was 185.9.
Barrett, in his most extensive work of the season, had touchdown runs of 3, 1 and 18 yards.
Perhaps the biggest thing was touchdown efficiency in the red zone. OSU came into the game 6-for-16 (38 percent) in touchdown efficiency through five games. They entered the red zone six times against Maryland and got six touchdowns.
“I’m sorry?” Meyer said when asked about the 6-for-6 performance.
Meyer smiled when the question was repeated.
“I know I heard you the first time,” he said. “I just wanted you to say it again.”
The inclusion of Barrett to the game plan in red-zone situations wasn’t an abrupt epiphany by Meyer. Jones said Meyer “was going on his Monday walk” earlier this week, then called both Jones and Barrett into his office to tell them his intentions. He let the two quarterbacks think about it for a while.
Then Meyer called them both back to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, Jones said, and asked them their thoughts after some time to think about it.
“It was great,” Jones said of the new two-quarterback system. “It was all with the coach’s plan to win. He felt like J.T. brings an extra element to the game down in the red zone. There’s certain things we want to do in the run game. (Meyer) proved to be right once again.”
The new system has merits. Both Jones and Barrett have defined roles. It’s not like previous games where the players were basically under the premise, “Produce, or you’re getting benched.”
Jones knows he’s the starter and will get the most of the snaps — especially with a long field, where his big-time arm can stretch defenses and open run opportunities for Ezekiel Elliott.
In the red zone, Barrett knows he’s coming in to stretch the field side-to-side with his running element.
“I think it can work,” Jones said.
Barrett completed both of his passes for 26 yards to go with the 62 rushing yards and three touchdowns. His quarterback rating was 209.2
It begged the question, if Barrett is the right guy in the red zone, why isn’t he the right guy all the time?
Meyer paused. The quarterback question still hadn’t gone away.
“We just won, man,” Meyer said with a grin. “I’m going to go enjoy a nice Gatorade tonight.”