When searching for the moment, the game, which J.T. Barrett became J.T. Barrett, look no further than Nov. 8, 2014.
Barrett, then a redshirt freshman quarterback at Ohio State, led his team north to East Lansing for a primetime showdown against Michigan State. The Spartans were ranked eighth in the country; the Buckeyes were No. 14. The winner would be in the driver’s seat in the Big Ten East; the loser would need help to make the conference title game and was, essentially, eliminated from College Football Playoff contention.
It was a game, an environment, a series of moments on that crisp November night that helped shape Barrett into what he is today.
Ohio State knocked off Michigan State, 49-37, avenging a loss to the Spartans from the previous season in the Big Ten championship game. The Buckeyes’ redshirt freshman signal caller threw for 300 yards, ran for 86 more and accounted for five total touchdowns in the win.
“It was, I think, a great plan we had going into the game,” Barrett recalled Monday ahead of his return to Michigan State on Saturday. “We were playing well as a team and we knew we were the underdogs in that game so we wanted to just come out and play hard for each other.
“It came to be a good game for us, especially offensively.”
It also served as the launching point for what’s already become a storied career for Barrett.
Now a redshirt junior, Barrett is one of college football’s most recognizable stars. He’s been the face of Ohio State for three years and he’s playing at a high level once again for the second-ranked Buckeyes.
On the season, the Wichita Falls, Texas native has 2,218 passing yards and 23 touchdowns (against just four interceptions) while completing nearly 65 percent of his passes. He’s also carried the ball 140 times for 617 yards and eight additional scores. When you add it all up, that’s 2,835 yards and 31 touchdowns.
Barrett’s career numbers may be even more staggering. They total 6,044 passing yards, 2,237 rushing yards and 98 touchdowns accounted for. There are still at least three more games to play in this season and Barrett still has one more year of eligibility remaining should he opt to come back next season for his fifth year.
It all started on that night in East Lansing two years ago when Barrett made throws and plays nobody had really seen him make before. Not on that stage, anyway.
Whether it was the 79-yard touchdown pass to Michael Thomas, the 44-yard touchdown to Devin Smith, the 43-yarder down the sideline to Smith that didn’t go for a touchdown but remains one of the most impressive throws of Barrett’s career or the countless hard runs that found success, it was all working that night in East Lansing.
“That was his game," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer recalled. "That legitimized who he was."
And so a star was born.
Two years later, that star is still shining brightly.
