Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett set every record imaginable during his first season as a starter, so it comes as little surprise that he was named the CFPA National Freshman of the Year Tuesday afternoon.
Barrett, a redshirt freshman who guided the Buckeyes to an 11-1 regular-season finish, entered the Heisman Trophy conversation before suffering a broken ankle against Michigan.
He finished with school-record totals of 3,772 total yards and 45 touchdowns. He completed 65 percent of his throws for 2,834 and 34 touchdowns (the latter of which is a single-season school record). He also rushed for 938 and 11 touchdowns on 171 attempts.
“I think it’s just crazy to think about. At the beginning of the year, myself personally, I wasn’t trying to go out there and break any records. I wasn’t trying to play outside myself," Barrett said Wednesday.
"I was just trying to put a team in the best position to win each and every week whether it be my preparation or just making plays on the field or handing the ball off or tossing it two yards, counting as a pass, whatever it may be. I was just trying to make sure at the end of the week were 1-0 and winning game."
But that snowballed into Barrett blossoming as one of the nation's premier players in place of the injured Braxton Miller, who went down 12 days before the start of the season.
While he was not named a Heisman Trophy finalist Monday night, Barrett is the Big Ten Quarterback of the Year and a unanimous first-team all-conference selection.
And by all accounts, the sky seems the limit for the humble kid from Wichita Falls, Texas.
