Is It Time for Ohio State to Make QB Change?

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ever since he named his team's starter for its season opener against Virginia Tech, Urban Meyer has stayed consistent in explaining his line of thinking when it's come to college football's most talked about quarterback competition.

In order for J.T. Barrett to regain his starting role in Ohio State's lineup, he'd have to beat out Cardale Jones.

That moment may have finally come.

After seven weeks of largely inconsistent play from his starting signal-caller and two days after turning to his backup down the stretch of the No. 1 Buckeyes' 38-10 win over Penn State, Meyer on Monday declined to name a starter for Saturday's game at Rutgers. That's not to say, however, that Meyer doesn't know who his No. 1 quarterback will be this weekend—he just isn't willing to reveal his choice yet.

"I think so," Meyer said when asked if he's decided which player will start against the Scarlet Knights. "I have an idea, but I want to make sure I visit with everybody [involved]."

At this point, naming Barrett Ohio State's starter appears to be more of a formality than anything else.

Barrett's performance against the Nittany Lions on Saturday—in which he tallied 132 yards (30 passing, 102 rushing) and four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing)—earned him team Offensive Player of the Game honors for the second time in as many weeks. Frustrated Buckeyes fans have called for Barrett to replace Jones for the better part of the past month, but it wasn't until last week that a lineup change seemed viable if Meyer were going to stick to his rationale.

"I thought [the offense] ran better against Penn State," Meyer said. "Everything plays into it."

Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

Should it happen, Jones' benching will have come slowly but surely, with Meyer giving Barrett no shortage of opportunities to unseat Ohio State's incumbent.

It started as early as the second week of the season, with Meyer turning to the reigning Big Ten Quarterback of the Year after Jones and the Buckeyes offense looked sluggish in the first half of a 38-0 victory over Hawaii. But while Meyer turned back to Jones in the second half against the Rainbow Warriors, the same couldn't be said a week later, when it was Barrett who finished a closer than expected 20-13 win over Northern Illinois.

In that game, the redshirt sophomore quarterback completed 11 of his 19 passes for 97 yards and one touchdown with one interception. That was hardly enough for Meyer to justify benching Jones, who started and played every significant snap in wins over Western Michigan and Indiana.

But with Ohio State's offense struggling to find a rhythm—particularly in the red zone, where the Buckeyes ranked 108th in the nation through the first five weeks of the season—Meyer could no longer stick with the status quo. So a week ago against Maryland, he turned to Barrett as his red-zone quarterback in hopes of giving Ohio State more of a dual-threat look.

The results spoke for themselves, with the Buckeyes scoring five touchdowns in Barrett's five trips inside the Terrapins' 20-yard line.

And while Jones turned in his best performance of the season with 291 yards and two touchdowns through the air, the writing appeared to be on the wall.

That's why it was hardly a surprise when Meyer turned to Barrett for more than just red-zone opportunities after Jones was ineffective in the first half against the Nittany Lions. For the second consecutive week, Barrett made the most of his time on the field against the nation's 16th-ranked defense.

"He certainly had his opportunity early in the year and did not do it," Meyer said of Barrett. "I feel a little bit like you do and anybody who's watched the past two weeks. He gets in, and I think we're doing a good job of calling things that he's good at. I see the same thing that you see."

Jay LaPrete/Associated Press

Speaking to the media after the game for the first time since the preseason, Barrett attributed his recent success to a shift in attitude.

"The first few weeks, I was trying to make plays, trying to make plays, and I was trying to force it. With that, [you're] just asking for bad things to happen," he said. "Now, I just come to games and execute the play that I have, and big plays come out of that."

Still, in the moments after the Buckeyes' most complete win of the season, as well as on Monday, Meyer wasn't willing to name Barrett his starter, deferring to media availabilities later in the week. But it's hard to imagine the fourth-year Ohio State head coach sticking with Jones, who completed nine of his 15 attempts for 84 yards against Penn State.

Jones' lackluster stat lines have been the biggest indictment of his play, as he's connected on just three passes of 40 or more yards in the Buckeyes' first seven games. In three postseason games last year, the strong-armed quarterback converted six such plays—as well as a 39-yard touchdown pass to Devin Smith in the Big Ten title game—which seemed to open running lanes for Ezekiel Elliott.

Without Jones providing that downfield threat, a two-quarterback system hardly makes sense, as Barrett is clearly the better runner of the two and has already proved his ability as a passer as well.

When asked if rotating quarterbacks could be ideal for Ohio State, Meyer said: "I felt that way after the Maryland game. We had a 300-yard passer, and [J.T. was] very productive. It didn't quite go that way [against Penn State]."

Paul Vernon/Associated Press

While the Buckeyes' quarterback situation remains in flux at the moment, it finally appears to be sorting itself out. After a slow start to the season, Barrett seems to have regained the form that helped him rewrite the Ohio State record book a year ago, while Jones hasn't done enough to keep a strong hold on his status as the starter.

If Meyer's logic stays the same as it has for the past two months, Jones may now have to outplay Barrett to get back on the field.

But with the way Barrett has performed lately, that opportunity is far from a given.

Then again, in this unprecedented quarterback conundrum, nothing has been.

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.