(Photo by Jeff Seemann)
The direction of the team seemed unknown. As mentioned above, it appeared the team would have three talented players going head-to-head for the quarterback position, and Urban Meyer ended up spending the majority of the year with a trial and error format trying to find the right person for the spot. Between Barrett and Jones, there just wasn’t enough convincing play early on either were ready to lead the team. It’s widely known Jones has the more of the makeup for NFL play, and perhaps he just wasn’t the right guy to lead this team to another title. I’m fine with that. I’m happy Meyer gave all his players a fair shot, and eventually chose Barrett, despite having off-the-field issues in late October. Barrett earned the spot in 2014 after the loss of Miller to injury, and took it back even after Jones marched them to the ultimate prize last season.
Ezekiel Elliot needed more touches. Elliot gained national attention after rushing over 1,800 yards with explosive power in 2014. Not to mention his breakout performances during the playoff games, especially against Oregon where he scored four touchdowns. It appeared Elliot would be heavily involved in the offensive scheme for this season, but actually ended up with fewer carries and yardage. He voiced his unsatisfactory feelings with his involvement during the Michigan State game following the loss to the Spartans, but later tweeted an apology message for the things he said. The Buckeyes only had 86 yards on 29 carries in that game, and Elliot had 12 of them for 33 yards. You would think when the offense was struggling early on to find the right guy under center you could rely to hand it off to Elliot to keep the ball moving. Elliot also announced he would forgo his senior season, and ended his last game on Friday with 149 yards on 27 carries, and 4 touchdowns.
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