You'd never know Urban Meyer has gotten tired of talking about his quarterback situation after his Buckeyes used five touchdowns from the duo of Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett to pull away from 33-point underdog Maryland en route to a 49-28 decision in the Shoe.
With Urban's two-headed monster guiding the offense to 31 first downs, improved red zone efficiency and a season-high in points Ohio State improved to 6-0 at the midpoint of the regular season.
Next Saturday the Buckeyes welcome Penn State to a blacked out Ohio Stadium as part of a special weekend featuring 11W's very own Gold Pants Social and Black Saturday Banger but before you begin preparations for the Nittany Lions, we look back at Five Things from the victory over Maryland.
IT TAKES TWO TO MAKE A THING GO RIGHT
After weeks of turnovers and a general lack of consistent offensive flow and continuity at quarterback – especially in the red zone – Meyer switched things up using Jones largely outside the 20's and Barrett within them and the results were delicious.
Cardale thrived playing the bulk of the snaps throwing for 291 yards on 21 of 28 passing including a beautiful 48-yard strike to Jalin Marshall after looking off the safety for six and a 19-yard toss to Braxton Miller for another score. The strategy change allowed the offense to take advantage of Jones' rocket arm in the middle of the field but not be disadvantaged by his lack of rushing prowess in the short field where his cannon has at times been marginalized.
Meanwhile, Barrett looked comfortable guiding the offense in compressed space as he ran 12 times for 62 yards and three scores and hit 2 of 2 passes including a 20-yard dart to Mike Thomas on a clutch 3rd and 16 slant.
It remains to be seen if Meyer will stick with the formula but considering the stellar results – Ohio State finished 6/6 in the red zone with six touchdowns and Jones seemed comfortable in his standing as the starter – it's a solid bet a similar strategy is employed versus Penn State.
Finally, the two players might have clear roles which could keep Jones from looking over his shoulder after miscues while allowing the Buckeyes to take advantage of the full rushing playbook with Barrett at the controls inside the red zone. Plus, I think it's safe to argue Barrett is the better decision-maker of the two which is always important but even more so in confined space.
CAN'T GUARD MIKE
With so much discussion leading up to the season and so far during it about the need to replace Devin Smith's deep-threat potential and how the team can get Braxton Miller more touches, redshirt junior Mike Thomas hasn't gotten the run he deserves.
Somewhat quietly, the best pro wide receiver prospect in the land has put up solid though not (yet) spectacular numbers as the Buckeyes continue sorting out other areas of opportunity on the offensive side of the ball.
After dropping a fastball from Jones on his first target of the day Thomas went off tying his career-high with seven receptions for a career-best 107 yards. As noted, his 20-yard slant was crucial to keeping Ohio State's first touchdown drive alive along with grabs for 12, 16, 31, 9, 7 and 12 yards. Six of his seven receptions resulted in a first down and Ohio State recorded another fresh set of downs after Wil Likely was forced to interfere with Thomas in the back of the end zone setting up a Barrett touchdown run giving Ohio State a 35-21 cushion.
Mike's big day brought his season totals to 27 receptions for 399 yards with four scores.
Through six games Thomas is averaging 4.5 catches for 66.5 yards compared to last year's marks of 3.6 and 53.3, respectively. Should Ohio State reach the national championship, his current pace would have him at 67 receptions for right around 1,000 yards.
For perspective, a 1,000+ receiving season would be just the fifth in school history and the first since Michael Jenkins went for 1,076 back in 2002 so make sure you enjoy Thomas while you can.
THE J.T. EFFECT
In Ohio State's first five games the offense converted a pedestrian 12 of 16 red zone opportunities with a sad six touchdowns, none of which came through the air.
Searching for some mojo inside the 20, Meyer turned to Barrett and he responded as the Buckeyes scored five touchdowns in five chances in which J.T. saw the field.
On OSU's first trip to the red zone Barrett capped 14 play, 75-yard drive with a short keeper up the middle to paydirt two plays after his laser to Thomas extended the drive.
Late in the 3rd quarter with the Buckeyes up just 28-21, Barrett kept for six yards on 1st and 10 from the Terp 15 and polished off the possession with another short keep for six.
Finally, following a Tyvis Powell interception giving OSU 1st and 10 at the Maryland 30, Jones hit Thomas for 12 yards before Barrett swept left showing some nifty footwork along the sideline for an 18-yard jaunt to cap the scoring.
Beyond the tangible results, Barrett's insertion into the lineup seemed to spark the entire team's mindset while giving Meyer the ability to go up tempo and feature the various read plays that just seem to work better with J.T. at the controls.
It's far too early to know whether or not this plan will work long-term but I applaud Meyer for even trying it knowing the strategy opens the door for an avalanche of questions and second-guessing if/when any negative outcomes can be tied to the move.
SHRUG LIFE
Joey Bosa hasn't had the statistical success many envisioned as part of his collegiate swan song but his value as both an NFL prospect and to Ohio State's defense can't be denied.
Bosa set up shop early and often in Maryland's backfield to the tune of one sack and four quarterback hurries. His constant pressure helped force Perry Hills into just 10/27 passing while his teammates added three sacks.
Seeing increased snaps lined up inside instead of his typical end slot based on down and distance, Bosa's shift allows Ohio State to get their four best linemen on the field and guys like Sam Hubbard and Tyquan Lewis are responding.
Lewis had another strong outing with 2.5 TFL and a career-high 2.0 sacks pushing his team lead in both categories to 9.0 and 5.5, respectively. Hubbard,a chief benefactor of Bosa sliding inside, was active in spot duty including an interception and a pass break up along with an impressive forced fumble while being held by a defender.
We'd all love to see Bosa improve his own numbers (and cut down on the penalties) but for now the extra attention he's drawing is absolutely helping create opportunities for his teammates.
minimizing mistakes
Through its first five games Ohio State committed an average of 2.6 turnovers drawing Meyer's ire. In fact, the Buckeyes had just one gave void of turnovers as part of a 38-0 blitz of Hawai'i about a month ago.
The Buckeyes finally posted another donut in the turnover category against the Terps running 77 plays without an unscheduled possession change. An ill-timed shotgun snap on 4th and 3 at the Maryland 28 killed a drive but was not technically a turnover as Barrett jumped on it for a 25-yard loss.
On the laundry front Ohio State came in averaging eight penalties per game, good for 104th in the country. While they didn't show as much improvement here the Buckeyes did cut their total to six which tied for a season-low while the 45 penalty yards were just one yard away from being the best outing of the season (44 yards, NIU).
There's still much work to be done on the penalty front especially along the offensive line. The group that's supposed to be the linchpin of the entire team committed four infractions with starters Chase Farris (false start), Billy Price (false start) and Jacoby Boren (holding) continuing a season-long theme of mental inconsistency versus expectations.
With much of the postgame talk focusing on the success of the Barrett/Jones hybrid, the lack of turnovers and decrease in penalties could be just as important if the Buckeyes can build off the improved attention to detail.
