Urban Meyer Has 9 Weeks to Settle on a Quarterback
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ezekiel Elliott squirmed, gritted his teeth and turned away, as if he had just been swallowed up in the backfield for a rare tackle for loss.
Only it wasn't a 300-plus-pound defensive lineman standing in front of the Ohio State running back, rather a herd of reporters. But upon being asked to evaluate the Buckeyes' quarterback situation through the first two weeks of the 2015 season, Elliott soon found himself searching for daylight ahead.
"Um," Elliott said, twisting away while forcing a grin. "No comment."
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The question wasn't necessarily an uncomfortable one—at least it wasn't supposed to be at this point in the season. With two weeks down and two to go in Ohio State's nonconference slate, many figured the defending national champions would have more clarity at quarterback by now after nearly seven months of competition between Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett.
But following a lackluster performance from the Ohio State offense—and most notably, the quarterback position—in its 38-0 win over Hawaii on Saturday, the Buckeyes' situation at signal-caller is anything but settled. Both Jones and Barrett played, but neither did so remarkably, with both players posting quarterback ratings below 50 on the day.
Searching for a spark after a sluggish start, Meyer had made the call to switch from Jones to Barrett midway through the second quarter but turned back to Jones for the start of the second half. Meyer then stuck with the national championship-winning quarterback until the second-to-last series of the game, when Ohio State was already leading by 31 points.
At his Monday morning press conference following the game, Meyer's message about his muddled quarterback situation was clear: It's still Jones' job—until it's not anymore.
"Cardale started, he's the starting quarterback," Meyer said. "J.T. has not beat him out yet. He's going to continue to have opportunities to do that because J.T. is a very good player and Cardale's got to perform."
Maybe this has been Meyer's plan all along, using Barrett as college football's best backup plan as a way to keep Jones focused in his first season as a starter. Through two games, however, it'd be tough to argue that strategy has worked, as Jones has looked inconsistent and unsure, compiling 298 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception while completing 59.5 percent of his passes in wins over Virginia Tech and Hawaii.
It'd also be even harder to imagine that Meyer wouldn't prefer to just see Jones solidify himself as the undisputed starter with his play and performances similar to the three postseason games that gave him a leg up in this quarterback competition in the first place.
"I'm kind of glad that we hit this pothole early in the season," Jones said after his 12-for-18, 111-yard, no-touchdown, no-interception performance against the Rainbow Warriors. "It was a reality check, not just for me, but for the whole offense, basically saying we're not as good as we thought we were."
If that's true, the Buckeyes weren't supposed to find that out this early in the season. The Buckeyes had plenty of excuses to fall back on—most notably a five-day turnaround from their Monday night trip to Virginia Tech—but halfway through their nonconference schedule, Ohio State players still find themselves being asked about their team's uncertain quarterback situation.
Not that it seems to matter to them.
"I just go out there and do what Coach Meyer says," Elliott relented. "Whatever he calls, whatever he orders, that's what I do."
"They're both really, really good," right guard Pat Elflein said. "I guess whoever's playing better at the time is going to get in."
And with Ohio State's upcoming slate between now and November, that might be all that matters for the foreseeable future.
Starting with this Saturday's game against Northern Illinois and continuing with another opponent from the Mid-American Conference the following week in Western Michigan, the Buckeyes are entering a four-game stretch that may not see them truly challenged until an Oct. 17 date with Penn State. Even then, the Nittany Lions may not stand a chance in a prime-time game inside of Ohio Stadium, which Ohio State will follow with matchups against Rutgers, Minnesota and Illinois.
Between now and the No. 1 Buckeyes' already highly anticipated meeting with Michigan State—currently ranked fourth in the AP Top 25—nine weeks, including one bye, will have passed, giving Meyer plenty of time to continue to tinker with his quarterback conundrum.
With more than two months and so many few uninspiring opponents ahead, it's likely that Jones—or perhaps Barrett—will grab a firm hold of Ohio State's starting quarterback job sooner rather than later. But as long as that process takes place before the Buckeyes' showdown with the Spartans, they should be in good shape as their overwhelming talent advantage should give Meyer plenty of leeway in making a decisive call at quarterback.
But until he does, don't expect the questions to stop anytime soon.
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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