Ohio State's season lives on. Cardale Jones is one of the top people to thank.
At the beginning of the 2014 season, offensive coordinator Tom Herman had some important advice for J.T. Barrett, who inherited the starting quarterback role upon Braxton Miller's injury.
"He was hesitant,” Herman said. “We told him, 'Dude, don't be perfect. Nobody's perfect. You didn't luck into this job. Just trust yourself. Hey, just pull the trigger, man.'"
When J.T. Barrett was himself hurt, Cardale Jones was thrust into a similar situation. No doubt he would have found Herman's advice just as useful.
Nobody expected Jones to play as well as he did in the Big Ten Championship Game, throwing three touchdowns and no interceptions. Nobody expected Jones to play a perfect game against a merciless Alabama defense, and trying to play a perfect game against Alabama would have been foolish.
A solid game was within reach, though. Now it can be safely said: Cardale Jones is no fluke.
Jones began the game as shaky as everyone thought he would be. He missed his first five throws, and the Buckeyes settled for a field goal on their opening drive. On first and goal from the 1-yard line he fumbled a designed quarterback run, costing the Buckeyes eight yards and a chance at a touchdown. In the second quarter, Jones threw an interception deep in OSU territory, allowing Alabama to go up 21-6.
Somehow, a multi-score deficit was just what Jones and the rest of the Buckeye offense needed to respond. Jones led Ohio State on three straight touchdown drives to give Ohio State a 27-21 lead, culminating in a 47-yard bomb to Devin Smith. By the time the Buckeyes retook the lead, Ohio State had outgained Alabama 423-139.
With Jones behind center, the Buckeyes displayed unusual power. When Jones escaped the pocket and bolted for first downs, he did not seek to elude defenders like J.T. Barrett or Braxton Miller. Instead, he would lower his shoulder and meet pain with pain. Take your pick: his running style could fairly be described as Tebowesque or like a runaway golf cart.
When the Crimson Tide stayed in coverage, Jones often found open receivers 25 yards downfield on crucial plays. As Grantland's Chris Brown wrote in exasperation, "Apparently Ohio State's entire roster is composed of people who could start at quarterback for half the teams in the country."
On the occasions where Jones had negative plays, he prevented them from being even worse. In the second quarter, Alabama's X'Zavier Dickson dragged him into the end zone for a near-safety, but the officials ruled him down at the two-yard line thanks to forward progress. He possessed the hand strength to hold onto the ball while his arm was being chopped during a sack, when a fumble would have given the Crimson Tide new life. And with the Buckeyes clinging to a six-point lead deep in their own territory in the fourth quarter, he eluded a defender's grasp to power out of what would have been a game-changing safety.
On the day, Jones' statistics may look pedestrian; 16-of-31 passing for 243 yards, a touchdown and an interception. It won't win any awards, but Jones was effective. Ohio State converted 10 of 18 third downs, and he was responsible for eight of them. A less capable quarterback never would have led the offense to 500 yards of offense or a two-touchdown lead, especially not against a defense like Alabama's.
Cardale Jones brings different strengths to the table than Miller or Barrett, and he may be ill-suited for a 15-game season. But against the two best defenses Ohio State will face this season, Jones has led Ohio State's offense to 101 points and two rousing victories.
No matter what happens in the national championship game against Oregon, Cardale Jones will stay another year and compete for the starting job. That's all anyone can ask for.
