COLUMBUS, Ohio — Cardale Jones claimed he didn't need it, that it was more about the offense coming together as one than alleviating any sort of individual pressure.
But there was an expression of relief on the Ohio State quarterback's face that hadn't been present for the better part of the past month.
Jones didn't play his best game—a 19-of-33, 288-yard, two-touchdown, one-interception stat line would have looked a lot better if not for a few underthrown balls—but for the first time in three weeks, the 6'5", 250-pound signal-caller wasn't pulled for his backup until the game had gotten out of hand in what was ultimately a 38-12 Buckeyes' win over Western Michigan on Saturday.
More importantly, Jones seemed to finally quell the quarterback competition between himself and J.T. Barrett. Ohio State enters its Big Ten opener against Indiana with no question as to who will start behind center against the Hoosiers.
"I didn't need it for me, personally," Jones said of his performance. "But I think the offense and team needed it—to establish that starting quarterback."
Jones went on to state that he had received no assurances that he would start in Bloomington, Indiana, next Saturday, but for the first time in nearly a month, there's no reason for him to even question where he stands. Despite some miscues, the national champion signal-caller stood tall in the pocket and looked as comfortable as he had since the Buckeyes' season-opening victory against Virginia Tech—the last time he played in a game without being benched.
The results spoke for themselves, with Jones finding Michael Thomas for a 38-yard touchdown on OSU's opening drive, before hooking up with Jalin Marshall for a 37-yard score in the second quarter. Underthrown passes probably robbed Jones of at least two more touchdowns and accounted for his lone interception—and also served as Urban Meyer's primary critique of his quarterback's play.
"Overall, I thought Cardale played OK," the Buckeyes head coach said. "We have high expectations."
But while Jones admittedly left room to improve with his performance, Saturday marked the first time in three weeks that he resembled the same quarterback who helped lead Ohio State to three consecutive postseason wins and a national championship a season ago. That wasn't the case in sluggish outings against Hawaii and Northern Illinois in the past two weeks, which each saw Jones get benched in the first half in favor of Barrett, who ultimately finished last weekend's win over the Huskies.
That left many questioning whether the reigning Big Ten Quarterback of the Year had supplanted Jones in the starting lineup—speculation that was only further fueled by a conspicuous change in Jones' Twitter bio.
"It was childish and I shouldn't have done it," Jones said on Saturday of his attention-grabbing edit. "Flat out."
Meyer opted to stick with the Cleveland native in his starting lineup, publicly declaring Jones his starter—for the third time in as many weeks—following Wednesday's practice. The reassurance coincided with a newfound approach by Jones when it came to college football's most talked-about quarterback competition, as he decided to no longer be distracted by a seemingly short leash from his head coach.
"Just let the chips fall where they may and go out there and compete and play to my best ability," Jones said of his new mindset. "I'm trying to lead this offense in a great way, avoid turnovers and three-and-outs. That's what kind of got us to this point."
For the most part, Jones did that on Saturday, totaling 320 yards of total offense before being pulled for Barrett with just more than six minutes left and the game's outcome already in hand. The underthrown passes may have left the door open for Barrett to reignite Meyer's quarterback conundrum by making the most of his playing time, but that door seemed to slam shut when Barrett threw an interception on his third play of the game—an underthrown ball of his own.
In a way, however, that may have been a blessing in disguise for the Buckeyes, who seemed to have been bogged down by more than nine months' worth of questions about who their starting quarterback would be. Thomas, Ohio State's leading receiver on the day (six receptions, 80 yards), admitted that it was easier for the offense to re-establish a rhythm with the more consistent play that it received from its quarterback.
"He was comfortable," Thomas said of Jones. "Basically if all 11 men do their job and we're in the right place at the right time, then Cardale has nothing to worry about."
For the first time in three weeks, that rings true for Jones in more ways than one.
As Meyer has established, Ohio State's unprecedented quarterback competition can flare up at anytime. But for now, there's no question about it: The Buckeyes have their quarterback.
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.
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