The past five years, backup quarterbacks at Ohio State are responsible for 21 Big Ten and Ohio State records, two comeback victories when the starter left with an injury, a 16-1 record starting in relief of the usual starter, a Big Ten title, a Sugar Bowl title and a national championship.
When your star quarterback goes down, it should feel at least discouraging, if not deflating, crippling, jarring demoralizing, crushing or debilitating.
That hasn't been the case for Buckeye fans the past five years. When the starter goes down – be it for a play, a series or longer – and the backup strolls out, there's instead been trust, confidence, faith, and lately, almost a sense of assurance.
That's because for the past five years, when the starter goes down, the backup hasn't missed a beat. In some cases, you could argue the team's actually looked better with that backup at the helm.
It began with Kenny Guiton in 2012. Braxton Miller and the Ohio State offense struggled to get anything going against Purdue. He was just 9-for-20 for 113 yards and an interception, adding just 47 yards rushing before going down with a head injury late in the game.
You know the rest. Guiton engineered a late-game 61-yard touchdown drive in under 47 seconds, tossed game-tying two-point conversion and then won the game in overtime.
The legend continued in 2013. Guiton started two games for an injured Miller and set school records in both games, hitting Devin Smith for a 90-yard touchdown in his first start against California – the longest play from scrimmage in school history – then threw a school record six touchdowns against Florida A&M a week later.
Guiton finished the 2013 season with a 68.8 percent completion percentage and 14 touchdowns, leading the Big Ten in passing efficiency as a backup quarterback.
Then came Miller's second backup – J.T. Barrett.
Barrett was the backup quarterback for just two days before his number was called after Miller re-injured his shoulder and was out for the season.
In relief of the preseason Heisman candidate, Barrett had perhaps the most impressive debut season in Ohio State history. He set 19 records Big Ten and Ohio State records including a school-record 3,772 total yards and a Big Ten record 45 total touchdowns.
The splendid season earned Barrett the Big Ten's Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year award, its Thompson-Randle El Freshman of the Year and he finished fifth in the 2014 Heisman Trophy voting.
Barrett guided the Buckeyes to an 11-1 regular season before breaking his ankle against Michigan, paving the way for his backup, Cardale Jones.
The team's third option at quarterback before the start of the 2014 season, Jones finished the job, leading the Buckeyes on a legendary three-game run for the Big Ten title with a 59-0 win over Wisconsin, the Sugar Bowl title with 42-35 win over No. 1 Alabama, and the College Football Playoff title with a 42-20 win over Oregon.
Jones passed for over 240 yards in each of the three games with a completion percentage of 60.9, throwing seven touchdowns and just two interceptions. Each of his first three starts resulted in some form of a championship.
The Buckeyes might need some magic from their backup once again. With Barrett's status uncertain ahead of Saturday's Big Ten Championship game against Wisconsin, Ohio State may look to redshirt freshman Dwayne Haskins to win the conference title and add one final bullet point to its playoff resume.
Haskins already came in clutch last week, when he came in with the Buckeyes down 20-14 to Michigan and went 6-for-7 for 96 yards to lead Ohio State to a 31-20 comeback victory.
If Haskins starts or plays regularly on Saturday night, Buckeye fans will be expecting great things, because fair or not, that's been the standard the past five years.
Next man up.
