Ohio State's Confusing Quarterback Controversy

COLUMBUS, Ohio — September 29 of this year marked the first time that Urban Meyer was asked about his quarterback situation. As it turns out, the Ohio State head coach's answer at the time was somewhat significant.

Redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett had just totaled 409 yards of total offense and four touchdowns in his fourth start since taking over for Braxton Miller two weeks prior to the start of the season. When broached with the idea of an impending quarterback controversy, Meyer opted to stand by his injured senior.

“Braxton is our quarterback," Meyer stated. "To be fair to Braxton, [he’s the] Big Ten Player of the Year. It’s good to know we’ve got both of them.”

One-third of the way into the Ohio State's season may have been too early for the question to have even been asked.

The same could be said about Meyer's answer.

In the six weeks since Meyer made his commitment to Miller, something has changed. That was evident on Monday, when the third-year Buckeyes head coach was approached the topic once more following Barrett's 386-yard, five-touchdown performance in Ohio State's monumental win over Michigan State.

This time, Meyer sang a different tune.

"Competition brings out the best," Meyer stated. "And I'm really excited to have two really good quarterbacks next year, if that's the plan."

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

According to Buckeyes offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tom Herman, that is still the plan, although it remains to be seen whether Meyer reneging on his public pledge to Miller will affect his future.

While the two-time Big Ten MVP has one season of eligibility remaining as he redshirts this season due to a torn labrum, he does possess the ability to either declare for the NFL draft or play at another school immediately as a graduate transfer.

Herman dismissed that possibility. "I can't even imagine that," he said.

Miller's anticipated 12-month recovery from his August surgery leaves his prospects as a pro up in the air. So in the meantime, despite still being in the hunt for a playoff spot in 2014, Ohio State already has a quarterback controversy on its hands for 2015.

Perhaps that last sentence highlights the absurdity of all of this, proving that it's way too soon to even talk about what could be when what's actually happening merits enough conversation of its own.

But it's undeniable that the Buckeyes could have an unprecedented situation on their hands, with two signal-callers of Miller and Barrett's caliber potentially competing for the starting job.

After all, most quarterback controversies don't look like this one could. At least not at the college level, where most quarterback situations involve choosing between the lesser of two evils—an unproven freshman or a maxed-out veteran—or somewhere in between.

That's certainly not the case in Columbus, however, where it's hard to imagine Meyer making a bad choice if Miller comes back healthy.

And that might be the biggest if in all of this, given the severity of Miller's shoulder injury—his second in an eight-month span. When Miller is healthy, there may not be a more exciting player in the country and no one is more capable of putting a team on his back and carrying it to a victory.

That's been reflected in Miller's trophy case, which includes not only a pair of Big Ten MVPs, but two Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year awards, two Big Ten Quarterback of the Year awards, two top-10 Heisman Trophy finishes and a 22-2 record as a starter in the past two seasons.

Should Miller have started this season as planned, he would have rewritten Ohio State's record books and been one of the preseason favorites to win the Heisman.

Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

"I don't even know how much hardware he's won individually," Herman said in August. "All I know is that I've read a couple times that he's the most decorated player in the history of the Big Ten."

But while the expansion of Miller's legacy has been put on hold, Barrett has started one of his own.

In nine weeks as the Buckeyes' starting quarterback, the redshirt freshman has racked up three Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week awards and five conference Freshman of the Week honors.

Currently on pace to break Miller's single-season records for total offense and touchdowns, Barrett possesses 20-1 odds to win the Heisman Trophy, per Bodog (h/t Odds Shark).

Although Barrett's credentials have improved at a record rate, he has more than just his resume going for him at the moment.

While it would be difficult to accurately project how much progress that Miller would have made as a passer in his senior season, there's a compelling case to be made that the Ohio State offense has operated more efficiently under Barrett than it did under his predecessor.

Meyer credited an improved receiving corps and offensive line for his accelerated progress, but he also didn't deny that Barrett's accuracy (64.4 percent completion percentage) and improvisational skills have added new—and perhaps unexpected—elements to the Buckeyes offense.

"J.T.'s made incredible jumps as far as how he handles his business and accuracy of passing," Meyer said. "The one thing that he does well—even better than Braxton—because it happens quite often when something is not there, he puts his foot in the ground and gets us to 2nd-and-4, 2nd-and-5."

Sometimes Barrett does even more than that, as evidenced by his improvised 33-yard touchdown run in a rout of Rutgers and a big 55-yard scramble in the Buckeyes' win over the Spartans last weekend.

But even as Barrett has proven "efficient" as a runner—in the words of Herman—he's still not as dynamic a ball-carrier as Miller, who's rushed for 3,052 yards and 32 touchdowns in his three-year career.

Jonathan Ernst/Getty Images

Maybe that would have been the difference in Ohio State's September 6 loss to Virginia Tech, where Barrett rushed for just 70 yards on 24 carries. Or maybe Miller's experience would have paid dividends against the Hokies' unexpected 46 Bear defense, which stifled Barrett into a 9-of-29, three-interception passing performance.

But with how he's progressed since, it's hard to view Barrett's early-season struggles as anything but a distant memory at this point.

And with the trajectory he's currently on, it's also difficult to imagine that Barrett will be making a return to the bench next season—regardless of which other quarterbacks join him on the Buckeyes' roster.

That might be the biggest question in all of this, as it's possible that Miller opts to take his talents elsewhere rather than returning to a school where he's no longer guaranteed a starting spot.

With so many question marks, the only certainty about Ohio State's quarterback situation is that there is now a situation, although Meyer insists that it's not one he minds.

"I don't use the term 'crazy.' I think 'fortunate' and 'blessed,' either one of them, because I think they're both excellent quarterbacks," Meyer said. "And we'll worry about that day when it comes."

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Ohio State Lead Writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com and recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.