Ohio State starting QB swap rare but not unique for a No. 1 team
Urban Meyer made a bold decision to go with J.T. Barrett instead of Cardale Jones as his starting quarterback. While a move like Meyer's may be rare for a championship team, it is not the only time it's happened.
By
Dennis Dodd
•
5 min read
Urban Meyer has made the exact right decision. For Saturday.
The Ohio State coach made some of the biggest news of the week when he announced J.T. Barrett will start at Rutgers. That's after Cardale Jones started the first seven games for Ohio State. That's also with the complete understanding that Barrett may not be starting after Saturday.
That's the way it goes these days in Land of the Buckeyes. The nation's No. 1 team continues to be so talented that management of egos and playing time at the most important position might as well be a TV pilot.
On the surface, Ohio State continues to be in best shape at the position than anyone -- perhaps ever. How many programs have had two championship quarterbacks defending a national championship?
As this situation plays out, Barrett and Jones have to understand that egos have to be set aside. No matter who starts, there is an accomplished star behind him. Looking over their shoulders? Good. There's a great chance the guy on the bench could be better for any given game -- in any given series.
"This one, I think, everyone thought as a possibility because of the two talented quarterbacks and the pressure on this team," said Gainesville Sun columnist Pat Dooley, who covered Meyer at Florida, in an email.
"Meyer told me a couple of weeks ago that, ‘it feels like 2009' when winning never seemed to be enough."
Don't believe things couldn't change right back at quarterback. Barrett is in there because of red zone production. In the last three games, the redshirt sophomore has been 11 for 11 in the red zone.
"Sometimes individually you can play well or the team doesn't play well or you don't score points," Florida State's Jimbo Fisher said, weighing in on Meyer's call. "The quarterback's job is to move the ball down the field and score points. They can't adjust and play around him."
Fisher has been in similar situations throughout his career. Five-star prospect Jacob Coker was beaten out by future Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston in 2013.
"Be honest with the guys. Be up front," Fisher advised. "What you're looking for, what you're wanting and what you're making your judgments on."
"I'm just trying to do the right thing," Meyer said this week.
Barrett -- fifth in Heisman Trophy voting last year and the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year -- is the right thing for now. Jones, who considered the NFL after three career starts, is the backup for now.
Stay tuned.
There are few similar -- though not exact -- parallels to one of the most unique quarterback situations in history.
USC, 1972: Before he was a television staple, an NFL quarterback, a lawyer or an athletic director, a sophomore named Pat Haden backed up senior Mike Rae during John McKay's third national championship season (out of four) with the Trojans. Haden played almost a quarter of the time in 1972, leading USC with seven touchdown passes. As a senior starter in 1974, Haden played in his third Rose Bowl and won a second championship.
Washington, 1991: There was all kinds of buzz going into the 1991 season for the Huskies. U-Dub finished fifth the year before. Mark Brunell was in the process of taking off when he blew out his knew in spring practice. Enter redshirt sophomore Billy Joe Hobert, who led the Huskies to a share of the 1991 national championship. Brunell returned way ahead of schedule in the season's third game, playing sparingly.
Hobert won the job in 1992 but was disgraced in a loan scandal that drew the attention of the NCAA. Brunell took over as starter, but Washington won only one of its last three games. He left with his head held high as the Huskies won another Pac-10 title and played in the Rose Bowl. In August 1993, coach Don James resigned in protest of the NCAA sanctions applied after the Hobert investigation.
Nebraska, 1994: Backup Brook Berringer started seven games after Tommie Frazier was sidelined with blood clots in his legs. Once recovered, Frazier started the Orange Bowl against Miami and threw an interception. He was eventually replaced by Berringer. Frazier returned in the fourth quarter, closing out a 24-17 win. That 13-0 season kicked off a championship run of three in four years for Nebraska.
Berringer was killed in an off-season small-plane crash.
Florida, 1994: Terry Dean had been celebrated as one of Steve Spurrier's first recruits in 1990. By October 1994, Dean was being mentioned as a Heisman favorite. By the time the Sugar Bowl rolled around, Dean took the field as a third-string captain for the coin toss. Against Auburn, Dean threw four interceptions and was told by the Head Ball Coach that his job was in danger. "Head games," Dean later Steve Spurrier's moves.
Danny Wuerffel took over and basically never looked back. At the end of a four-year run of SEC titles in 1996, Wuerffel won the Heisman Trophy. "It's unusual for the No. 1 team to change quarterbacks but [Spurrier] did it in '94," Dooley said.
Ohio State, 1996: Stanley Jackson was the runner. Joe Germaine was the passer. Both played in what could have been a championship season under John Cooper. Jackson was good enough to start through the season until the Michigan game. Cooper inserted Germaine in what was eventually a 13-9 loss that dashed championship dreams.
"I think we would have won it all if he would have picked either guy and stuck with him," Jackson told the Northeast Ohio Media Group in August.
Florida, 2006: When Meyer was hired in December 2004, Chris Leak was going on his third offensive coordinator (Dan Mullen) in three years. He struggled with the option part of the newly installed zone read. To everyone's benefit, Meyer adjusted the offense to fit Leak's limitations.
There was speculation that super freshman Tim Tebow would get the job in 2006, but the combination of Leak and Tebow (as a red-zone battering ram specialist) worked perfectly. There really wasn't much of a controversy with the Gators. Meyer's magic had been transferred directly from Utah to Florida. Leak was the offensive MVP of the BCS Championship Game, a contest in which Tebow threw and ran for a touchdown apiece. Florida won its second national championship.
