COLUMBUS — Following Ohio State's 49-7 win over Rutgers last weekend, Urban Meyer admitted he was finally feeling at ease when it came to his quarterback situation, thanks to J.T. Barrett's 324-yard, five-touchdown shredding of the Scarlet Knights.
"It really does," Meyer answered in his postgame press conference when asked if the performance gave him a better sense of comfort with what had been a season-long quarterback competition between Barrett and Cardale Jones. "I don't want to admit that, but it does."
As it turns out, Meyer's peace of mind would last less than a week.
Because while Barrett seemed to have established himself as the Buckeyes' undisputed starting quarterback for the stretch run of their national championship defense, it will be Jones in the starting lineup when Ohio State returns to action Nov. 7 following this weekend's bye. Barrett, meanwhile, will be suspended for the Buckeyes' matchup with Minnesota, after a Friday night citation for operating a vehicle while impaired resulted in a one-game suspension for the redshirt sophomore signal-caller, per an Ohio State release.
With that, another chapter in the book of the Buckeyes' nearly year-long quarterback conundrum begins, as Jones prepares for the 11th—and perhaps most unlikely—start of his college career.
It may be an uphill climb, but at the very least, Barrett's suspension has cracked the door open for Jones to regain his status as Ohio State's full-time starting quarterback. In seven starts this season, the redshirt junior failed to solidify himself as just that, initially yielding red-zone opportunities to Barrett before finding himself on the bench for last weekend's trip to Piscataway, New Jersey.
After winning three postseason games at the end of last year before bypassing on entering the NFL draft, Jones' benching appeared to leave his future—both immediate and long-term—in doubt.
But with at least one more start ahead, Jones could very well rectify what's otherwise been a forgettable encore to last winter's national championship run. Because while Barrett may have established himself as the best fit in Meyer's spread offense, it would be tough to justify turning back to the currently suspended signal-caller should Jones put together a big performance against the Golden Gophers, given the circumstances that resulted in his return to the starting lineup.
This is especially true considering that while on a media tour earlier this week to promote his new leadership book, Above The Line, Meyer appeared to take a strong stance on discipline in an appearance on Fox News. Asked on The O'Reilly Factor about former Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston's theft of crab legs, the fourth-year Buckeyes head coach indicated he wouldn't have been willing to put up with Winston's behavior.
"It would have been hard to let that go," Meyer said.
Meyer's comment drew criticism from some in the media, given his well-documented history with player discipline at Florida. But it also could have been written off as a meaningless answer with little thought behind it in the midst of a long day of press for the three-time national champion coach.
After Barrett's citation, however, all eyes now turn toward Meyer and his handling of his once-again star player's subsequent punishment. Questions have already arose as to whether Barrett missing just one game for the Buckeyes is the result of a technicality with this weekend's bye or Ohio State doling out a more lenient than usual suspension.
But regardless of when Barrett finds himself eligible to return to the field—Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith insisted to ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg that the school's policy will allow him to do so having missed just one game—Jones now finds himself in a position to make it a moot point. While he may not be as spectacular as he was last winter, Jones has been steady through the first eight weeks of the 2015 season, throwing for 1,266 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 63.2 percent of his passes.
Perhaps most importantly, despite his in-season benching in favor of Barrett a week ago, Jones remains undefeated as the Buckeyes' starting quarterback.
"His mentality is great. He's very positive, he's working. He's still a rookie too," Meyer said of Jones following last weekend's win over the Scarlet Knights. "He's 10-0 as a starter. I just want to see those guys continue to get better and better and better, and they are."
Jones would likely have to outperform expectations and return to his postseason form in order for Meyer to once again make him Ohio State's full-time starter upon Barrett's return. With season-defining games against Michigan State and Michigan still ahead in the coming weeks, Jones will need to prove that he gives the Buckeyes a better chance to beat the Big Ten's best teams, which may seem unlikely given how well Barrett had been playing heading into the bye week.
But with Barrett out of the lineup for at least one week, that opening is now there. And with the public pressure mounting against Meyer when it comes to player discipline, it's now up to Jones to seize the unexpected opportunity.
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. Odds provided by Odds Shark. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.
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