Ohio State finishes spring ball with same question: Who's playing QB?
Cardale Jones played in QB for national champion Ohio State in its spring game, but J.T. Barrett and Braxton Miller remain in the mix. And there is nothing close to an answer as to who will start this fall.
By
Dennis Dodd
•
7 min read
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- There are no records kept for such things, but Urban Meyer works in one of the most ornate coaching digs in existence.
His office is so loaded with reminders of a career well-lived it could double as a museum. There are honors, photos, mementos, awards, heirlooms. The man himself can dangle three championship rings on one hand -- and those are only from last season.
Tangible reminders why Ohio State's coach will escort a team to the White House for the third time Monday.
"He knows where the bathrooms are," cracked Mississippi State's Dan Mullen, in town for a high school coaches clinic.
All that's missing from the setting are security guards to keep the unwashed from touching all the baubles buried deep in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
That only adds to the current frustration.
"I've got all these coaching books and great mentors," said Meyer, gesturing to the shelves. "There's none of those [answers] in there. If there were I'd read them."
He's speaking of a resolution still hanging in a cloud, math that still does not compute. Three championship-caliber quarterbacks cannot be divided into one starting spot. The conundrum is only the biggest story of the sport's offseason.
If Ohio State isn't on the cusp of the game's next great dynasty, it is damn close. One huge issue. The Buckeyes have too many quarterbacks.
The only certainty is redshirt junior Cardale Jones will go into fall drills as the starter after Saturday's spring game. That's only because two-time Big Ten offensive player of the year Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett -- fifth in last season's Heisman voting -- are rehabbing injuries.
When asked what August is going to be like with the choked depth chart, Jones responded: "Hot!"
That, and confusing and confounding. A good "problem" for Meyer, in that he has to make the right decision. Whatever "right" means.
"It's not like you can draw back upon previous experience," the coach said. "To say I have the answer, I don't ... The negative is, two guys are going to have to watch. That's excruciating."
That's important. For the record, the position won't be two-headed.
"We did it in 2006," said Meyer, recalling waaaay back to his first national championship season at Florida. "There were two different skill sets, Chris Leak and Tim Tebow.
"I remember our fans booing."
Saturday was no time for such complexities. A national spring record (for now) of 99,391 gathered on a sun-splashed day for a celebration of an unlikely title. Miller and Barrett watched. Meanwhile, Jones "started" his fourth career game, revealing in a halftime skills competition he could heave it 74 yards.
"Arm was tired," he said.
If you haven't noticed, Jones is the happy-go-lucky one among the three. If the 6-foot-5, 240-pound redshirt junior never does anything else, he will always be that third-string quarterback who won a championship in a three-game whirlwind.
"A third-string quarterback on paper, but a guy who could play anywhere," linebacker Joshua Perry said. "It's almost embarrassing how good we are at the quarterback position."
Jones thrived only after Barrett led the Buckeyes to the brink of a Big Ten title before suffering an ankle injury vs. Michigan.
"You did kind of look up to the sky and ask God, 'Why?' " Barrett said of his injury.
And what did God say?
"He didn't get back to me."
All that followed Miller reinjuring his shoulder last fall in drills. The shoulder that led the Buckeyes to an undefeated 2012 and to the Big Ten title game in 2013. The shoulder attached to a body that might be in the NFL by now if he weren't injured.
Adding to the mystery, he isn't talking to the media although there was a brief sighting Friday. Miller walked through the indoor facility, his throwing shoulder wrapped in ice.
Adding another layer, Miller might be the third-best college quarterback on the Ohio State roster.
"Knowing that anything can happen," Barrett said. "That's what you have to think about if you're a guy who's a backup. You never know.
"Did I think that Braxton was going to reinjure his shoulder? Of course not."
The story of how they all got here is growing to legend status. Jones didn't quite buy in until shortly before he was called upon in late November. Barrett has clear memories of Jones freelancing in practice. Going off-script.
"He got yelled at in meetings but it wasn't that bad because he completed the pass," Barrett said.
Jones recounted a tale from 2012 when Miller was injured against Purdue. Backup Kenny Guiton had done a fine job in relief but was momentarily knocked out of the game.
Jones was nervous at the prospect of getting in a game, even for a play. He hadn't bothered to show up to a Monday quarterbacks meeting that week.
"What am I supposed to tell the team if you have to go in the game?" Meyer asked Jones.
For a moment, everyone was about to find out.
"Coach Meyer, out of nowhere, found me and gave me the meanest stare of my life," Jones said. "He gave me that look like, 'You've got to be shittin' me.' "
A stoppage intervened and Guyton was able to return. Jones now says he began to change his ways after seeing Guyton, since departed, prepare himself as the backup.
That they are still talking about the quarterback job in terms of threes is amazing. For now, they're all determined to battle into August knowing that eventually two may sit.
They're all of the same general body build. (Barrett is 6-2, 225; Miller, 6-2, 215). They all could have legitimate Heisman aspirations.
Miller, a supreme runner, could probably improve his accuracy. He also could leave at any time as a graduate transfer, having received his communications degree in December. A position change has been speculated elsewhere, but isn't planned according to Meyer.
Jones could have left for the pros with all of three starts under his belt, but wisely returned. Barrett -- with three years of eligibility remaining -- probably has the most reason to stick around. Now all the Big Ten's best quarterback in 2014 has to do is win the job.
If not, well, he's used being blamed.
"I was the worst human on this earth," Barrett recalled. "I was hated."
That was the reaction he got two games into last season when the Buckeyes were upset at home by Virginia Tech. In his second start, Barrett completed 9 of 29 and threw three interceptions. But the blame mostly fell on an inexperienced offensive line struggling with the Hokies' D stacking the box.
"They have great players, but their scheme was very unique," Meyer said. "Bear Zero. You can't run against it. Now we practice it every third practice."
At the time, that analysis didn't absolve Barrett.
"You should read the comments on my Instagram," he said. "They were ugly. Sometimes I'll go back and look at them and say, 'Man, they didn't like me.' ... I was like, 'I don't even know if I knew these words.' "
Welcome to big-time college athletics, kid. Some of those same fans were wearing "Undisputed Champions" T-shirts and scalping tickets Saturday.
Not much sympathy will be found outside central Ohio. The Buckeyes will be a prohibitive preseason No. 1. Tailback Ezekiel Elliott will be at or near the top of Heisman favorites.
"We could have four Heisman candidates," Elliott said, including his quarterbacks.
Meyer may have single-handedly ended the South's recent stranglehold on the sport by establishing what is essentially an SEC program in Columbus. The talk around here is that the Buckeyes were being built for 2015.
"People talk about SEC, SEC," Barrett said. "I'm pretty sure a lot of our team were recruited by SEC schools. A lot of our guys are from Ohio. It's not like the players are only in the South."
The participants in the quarterback derby hail from Ohio (Jones, Miller) and Texas (Barrett). The new breed of receivers are from Florida (Johnnie Dixon), New Jersey (Noah Brown) and California (Michael Thomas).
But who will throw to them?
Meyer says evaluations will continue next week. He'll probably call a few confidants. Meet with offensive coordinator Ed Warinner, who has a "brilliant mind."
"I'm going to come up with some kind of system throughout training camp to chart everything that everyone does," Meyer said. "It's got to be statistical analysis."
That likely won't eliminate emotion from the situation. No wonder the Meyer has moved on from "The Chase" -- the motivational label applied to last season -- to "The Grind."
"Start from the bottom like every other team," Perry said, "Clean slate."
