Fact: Urban Meyer's never lost a Big Ten regular season game at Ohio State.
Fact: Meyer again has the Buckeyes — who debuted at No. 3 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings — in terrific position to finish in the top-4 for the second consecutive season after pushing past Minnesota, 28-14, Saturday night at Ohio Stadium.
Fact: Meyer still has a quarterback problem.
Or does he?
"I'm not going to do that," Meyer said late Saturday when asked to grade the performance of Cardale Jones against the Golden Gophers. "I'll know more (Sunday) when I watch the videotape, because a lot of times when I used to do that I'm wrong. And I'd rather wait until I let you know for sure when I meet with you guys on Monday or Tuesday."
Meyer, unsurprisingly, wouldn't give much word as to who he intends to start at quarterback Saturday when he and the Buckeyes head west to take on Illinois in their final tuneup ahead of two showdowns with Michigan State and Michigan.
“We expect to play better. I hate to say that because that sometimes sounds like we're taking away from our opponent, because they're a pretty rugged group. But just expect much more efficiency out of our offense.”– Urban Meyer
"I'm just going to go enjoy this win with my fellas and spend time with my family and then we'll make some decisions this week," Meyer told ESPN's Holly Rowe after the victory.
Jones was plenty good enough for Ohio State's record to remain spotless Saturday, throwing for 187 yards and completing 12-of-22 passes with one touchdown. He also ran it 12 times for 65 yards and a 38-yard touchdown that put the final nail in the Gophers' coffin late in the fourth quarter.
Good, but not great in a relatively uninteresting gridiron battle under the lights.
"It was all self-inflicted wounds, it took us a while to settle down, to get us in a rhythm," said Jones. "Just having to stay focused and kind of refocus at some points."
Jones called his play "below average" against Minnesota, a recurring theme of 2015. He's played more snaps than Barrett this season, but there was a reason the latter grasped the starting nod before a trip to Rutgers Oct. 24. The offense just seems to move better with Barrett in at quarterback, with his quick feet providing the extra element Meyer's spread offense needs.
"I think they're are kind of, they're different players. You can't make them be the same guy," offensive coordinator Ed Warinner said. "You just have to figure out what the strengths are. It does make it a little bit more complicated when you have to shift back and forth. That makes it a little bit more complicated."
It didn't look too complicated when Barrett racked up 132 yards and four total touchdowns against a solid Penn State front four, then 324 yards and five more scores at lowly Rutgers a week later.
Barrett's efficiency led him to finish fifth in the 2014 Heisman Trophy voting, and he was returning to form to lead the Buckeyes in a similar token with the calendar flipping to November. The unit didn't look the same with him sitting in the press box Saturday, serving a one-game suspension for an OVI citation Halloween morning. He's due in court Tuesday.
"We expect to play better. I hate to say that because that sometimes sounds like we're taking away from our opponent, because they're a pretty rugged group," Meyer said. "But just expect much more efficiency out of our offense."
That's the name of the game when it comes to Barrett, who shook off some early season woes of his own to play well recently. Meyer said the sophomore captain will be back in the conversation at quarterback for the Illinois game, but all signs point to the coach giving Barrett the keys yet again after serving his suspension. He even spoke to the team at halftime of Saturday's game, according to running back Ezekiel Elliott.
"Coach Meyer, Coach Beck and myself will have a discussion about what we think is best for the team moving forward and decide where to go from there," Warinner said. "I'd venture to say that most of that will be in Coach Meyer's control."
Meyer's won 47 of his first 50 games in Columbus as the head coach of Ohio State, so his track record with making the right decisions to lead to victories for the program is on his side. He's set to address the media Monday morning.
Will he make Barrett being the starter a fact once again?
