Urban Meyer has been taking a lot of heat over starting Cardale Jones at quarterback, especially with the Ohio State offense not performing to its’ potential.
So he switched it up a bit.
Meyer used J.T. Barrett when the Buckeyes were in the red zone, and found immediate success. For the first time this year, the Buckeyes did not fail to score when inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. That achievement led directly to Ohio State’s 49-28 win over Maryland on Saturday.
“We just both have the mindset, and not just me and Barrett, but everybody I believe on our team, that we just want to win,” said Jones. “If that means sacrificing playing time or swallowing our ego, that’s no problem with us.”
Jones threw for a career-high 291 yards, adding two touchdowns. Barrett connected on both passes he threw, but scored three touchdowns on 65 rushing yards.
Late in the first quarter, Meyer used Jones, Barrett, and Braxton Miller on consecutive plays at quarterback, a scenario which Buckeye fans were dreaming about during the offseason.
Ezekiel Elliott, after another difficult first half, totaled 109 yards rushing and 47 yards receiving. He also scored two touchdowns. It is his 11th straight game over 100 yards.
Ohio State moves to 6-0 on the season. Maryland fell to 2-4.
NOTES
- Following the game, Maryland Head Coach Randy Edsall stormed out of his press conference prematurely. He had been asked if he typically shakes the hand of every player in pre-game, or was this a first time. Edsall took offense to that assumption, along with three previous questions on his future at Maryland.
- Ohio State has now won 19 straight games, longest in the NCAA
- Urban Meyer is now 44-3 in his career as the Buckeye head coach
- OSU has won 26 consecutive regular-season Big Ten games, longest in Big Ten history. Meyer has never lost a Big ten regular season game.
- Barrett recorded his first three-touchdown game of his career (rushing).
- Ohio State is now 72-12-1 when ranked #1.
- Michael Thomas has caught a pass in 22 consecutive games
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