On a cold Saturday Night in East Lansing, MI, The Ohio State Buckeyes faced off against the Michigan State Spartans in a battle for the top spot in the Big Ten. Prior to the game many pundits figured that Michigan State would have their way with the Buckeyes, but that wasn’t the case. I was fortunate to be there in person, and I saw first-hand how Ohio State had their imprint on the game. Before the game even started, the Buckeyes came on to the field with swagger as if they knew that the Spartans couldn’t stop them.
And boy were they right…. The Ohio State Buckeyes offense put up 49 points on one of the top defenses in the country, and it could have been 60 or more without a few blunders from Dontre Wilson. J.T. Barrett had command of the offense the whole night as he threw for 300 yards and also had 86 on the ground. The freshman QB also had five total touchdowns (3 passing and 2 rushing). Barrett found Devin Smith when it mattered most, and the pair connected for several back-breaking plays for the Spartans. Last season, Braxton Miller was unable to challenge the Spartans DB’s as he only threw for 109 yards on 8 out of 21 passing attempts. To Barrett’s credit Urban Meyer and Todd Herman called a much better game against the Spartans this season. Prior to the game many were unsure about J.T. Barrett as a big-time player, but Saturday he proved otherwise.
Under the bright lights in Spartan Stadium he rose to the challenge. A lot of things weren’t in his favor, and he still came out on top. Whispers stating that Barrett couldn’t win because he was a freshman, and because the Spartans were the class of the Big Ten– it seemed like the obvious choice to go against Barrett and the Buckeyes. In Barrett’s last prime time against Virginia Tech he looked like a deer in headlights, but this past Saturday it is safe that a star was born. After the Virginia Tech game, Barrett has put up video game numbers, but it was against inferior competition. Putting 386 total yards against the Spartans defense was something that Oregon’s Marcus Mariota couldn’t do, and it was done this past Saturday by a Freshman QB on the road in a hostile environment.
It is quite scary to see Barrett improve at this rate, but kudos should also go to the coaching staff, offensive line, and the skill players on the offense. Football is the ultimate team sport, and everyone’s development on the offensive side of the ball has helped Barrett to become the player that he is becoming. Rewinding back to August when it was announced that Barrett would be replacing Braxton Miller, because of injury the city of Columbus and Buckeye Nation couldn’t have imagined that the freshman backup would be on pace to have the best statistical season for a QB in Ohio State history.
Next year it isn’t clear who will start quarterback for the Buckeyes if Miller returns, but as of today J.T. Barrett is the man for that position. Worrying about the present is much more important as the Buckeyes rather than worrying about next year as the Bucks are looking to make it to the inaugural college football playoffs. At the beginning of the season it seemed like a long shot, but as of now it is a reality, and that’s all because of a star was recently born, and his name is J.T. Barrett
JT gave MSU work on the road, Marcus was at home …and dog you being there in person was the lick…