Cardale Jones will remain Ohio State's starting quarterback after Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer confirmed Wednesday the junior will retain top billing in the offense, per Ben Axelrod of Bleacher Report.
Meyer left the door open for another switch, however, saying of Jones, "He is the guy. Unless he doesn't perform well," per Axelrod.
Doug Lesmerises of Northeast Ohio Media Group believes Meyer made the right decision:
While it feels like Jones' grip on the starting job has been slipping of late, ESPN's Joe Schad indicated the coaching staff wasn't going to make the decision to remove him this early in the season:
Jones and J.T. Barrett have been engaged in quite the battle ever since the national championship. Jones got the nod at the beginning of the season and has started each of OSU's three games so far this year.
In those three games, he is 26-of-46 for 334 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions so far, which is a drop from the 742 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions he had through the Buckeyes' final three games of the 2014 season.
Granted, Barrett hasn't performed much better, throwing for 193 yards, two touchdowns and one pick on 20-of-35 passing. He's averaging nearly two fewer yards per attempt (5.51) than Jones (7.26).
During Wednesday's press conference, Meyer was quick to ensure Jones didn't receive the majority of the blame for Ohio State's somewhat sluggish start, telling reporters, "It's the offense that's in a funk," per Ozone Communications.
Maybe this represents a turning point in the quarterback battle, where one guy well and truly takes over the starting role.
But this news only carries so much significance. Meyer has already shown he isn't afraid to change quarterbacks in the middle of games. If Jones struggles early against Western Michigan, there's a good chance Barrett will see a number of snaps. Meyer said as much himself Wednesday.
And considering how busy the Buckeyes' QB carousel has already been this season, it's certainly possible Meyer could go in a different direction a week from now, when the Buckeyes begin Big Ten play on the road against Indiana.
Ralph D. Russo of the Associated Press wondered whether Meyer's inability to commit to a quarterback is to the team's detriment:
Meyer refuted that sentiment this past Monday.
"I hear someone say, 'How can you play quarterback with someone looking over your shoulder?' My comment to that person was, 'How do you not?'" he said, per ESPN.com's Austin Ward. "If you think you're going to play at the next level, there's going to probably be one better than you standing right next to you, so get used to it. It doesn't mean you get hooked [permanently], but if you have a bad day, you get replaced. That might not be everyone's philosophy, and that's OK."
While Meyer isn't entirely incorrect in his assessment, you could counter that having continuity at quarterback and truly committing to one player would help the offense find its footing. Meyer won a national championship at Florida with both Chris Leak and Tim Tebow as his quarterbacks, but that's one of the few cases in which a two-QB system proved successful.
With all of that said, the Ohio State offense has two major issues largely independent of the quarterback. Ezekiel Elliott's yards per carry have dropped from 6.9 in 2014 to 5.4 in 2015, and no receiver has proved to be much of a deep threat, which has limited the effectiveness of the passing game.
Sorting that out is just as important as getting consistency at the QB position.
Perhaps everything will click for Ohio State on Saturday against the Broncos. Don't be surprised, however, if we have to go through this whole song and dance again a week from now.
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