Urban Meyer thought back to J.T. Barrett’s first career start and smiled. Ohio State’s head coach can joke about it now, and his remarks after Wednesday’s practice almost perfectly illustrated his feelings back then.
“The first time he got his first start he certainly wasn’t driving the car,” Meyer said. “He was in the front seat somewhere, but he wasn’t driving it.”
Now, two years later, Barrett finally has control of the wheel.
For the first time in his career, Barrett is unquestionably Ohio State’s starting quarterback at the beginning of a season. Back during that 2014 year, he was thrust into the fire with just over a week until the first game after Braxton Miller suffered a season-ending injury. In 2015, he was in a quarterback battle for the ages with Cardale Jones.
But ever since Jones declared for the NFL Draft way back in December, the 2016 season belonged to Barrett. And with just two days remaining before kickoff, the redshirt junior signal caller is ready to go.
“I think it’s good just [Meyer] being able to give me the keys to the car in order to drive it,” Barrett said Wednesday. “Confident in what I’m doing and how I progressed as a quarterback here. It’s a good feeling to have your coach say that.”
Ohio State’s potential success this season largely rests on Barrett’s shoulders. As one of just six returning starters — and playing the most important position in football — the Buckeyes need Barrett to be one of the best players in the country in order to contend in the Big Ten.
That means he’s going to have to play more like the 2014 version rather than the 2015 one that was, for the most part, inconsistent through the first 11 games of the year.
Barrett finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting as a redshirt freshman in 2014, accounting for 3,772 total yards and 45 touchdowns before fracturing his ankle in the regular-season finale. He was beaten out by Jones for the starting job to begin the 2015 season, however, and Ohio State essentially used a two-quarterback system — ineffectively — until the final two games of the year.
The Buckeyes need the Barrett from two years ago and/or from the final two games of 2015 for the duration of this upcoming season.
“He’s outstanding. He’s on top of his game, I’m proud to say,” Meyer said of Barrett. “He’s a very good player, a very good leader and he’s driving the car.”
Ohio State hopes Barrett can lead that car back to Indianapolis.
If that’s going to happen, it’ll be done with an offense with three new offensive linemen, a new batch of wide receivers, a new running back and a different tight end.
A tall task, no doubt, but one Barrett is looking forward to.
“The good thing about it is the guys that are in the starting roles, they were always getting reps with us. Especially at the receiver position because the way our offense is run, the receivers rotate in and out,” Barrett said. “I think I was still able to get a feel for how they are so I think we’re still going to click.”
Ohio State’s 2016 campaign can certainly go a number of different ways. With this many unknowns entering a season, it’s nearly impossible to predict how things will turn out this year for the Buckeyes.
One thing Ohio State does know, however, is it will have a chance every time it takes the field if the guy behind center plays as well as he’s capable of playing.
“I do want to be the best in the country,” Barrett said. “I’m just striving to keep on progressing and I feel like I need to be myself.”
