J.T. Barrett has gotten lots of praise as a redshirt freshman; he already has three Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards, and his play against Maryland will likely earn him a fourth. Now he is getting national acclaim, as Athlon Sports named him National Freshman of the Week. From the press release:
National Freshman of the Week: J.T. Barrett, Ohio State
Reports of the demise of Ohio State’s Big Ten season were premature. Ohio State might not be in the national title hunt without Braxton Miller, but the Big Ten is a feasible goal. Redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett completed 18-of-23 passes for 267 yards with four touchdowns in a 52-24 win over Maryland, a team that entered the game in the top 20 of pass efficiency defense. Barrett also rushed for 71 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.
Over the last three games, Barrett has thrown for 899 yards, rushed for 156 and scored 15 total touchdowns. His 186.3 passer efficiency rating leads the Big Ten, and would rank second all-time in Big Ten history.
Barrett's improvement over five games – and hopefully over the remainder of the season – is remarkable.
