Ohio State Football: What the Buckeyes Need to Do About Joe Bauserman

Ohio State's biggest problem in the short term has little to do with the big elephant in the room of looming NCAA penalties.

There is another elephant in the room: Joe Bauserman.

The senior quarterback and former baseball player inspired little confidence in September when he was named the starting QB over exciting dual-threat Braxton Miller.

And all that he has done in six games is not only prove the fans right, but he also has become a national punchline, as noted by the infamous "Joe Bauserman's Passing Chart."

While he should not be fully to blame for Ohio State's stunning 34-27 collapse at Nebraska, he certainly didn't help matters by completing only one of 10 passes and throwing an interception, all in one quarter.

And all the while, Luke Fickell seems to be sticking with the senior as his main backup, against all common sense and logic.

Did he watch the same games that we did?

At this point, it's very clear that his great performance against Akron was an aberration, and the rest is just the norm.

Fans can see it, other coaches can see it and most of the national media sees it.

That said, are Kenny Guiton and Taylor Graham that much worse than Bauserman?

Conventional wisdom says that having a completion percentage worse than 10 percent means you don't deserve a scholarship.

And Ohio State has four QBs on scholarship.

Why not give one of the other two a try?

Guiton actually did get some practice opportunities with the twos, and he was warming up on the sidelines in case a tired Ohio State defense could stop Nebraska's offense.

The best-case scenario for Ohio State's next game at undefeated Illinois is if Miller is 100 percent after last week's ankle injury and Bauserman is not needed.

If he is, OSU is in very, very serious trouble.

If Ohio State wants to salvage any hope of even making a bowl appearance (and an upset win against Illinois on Saturday would go a long way to get there), Bauserman can't see the field ever again.

The fans probably admire his persistence and his decision to pass up a paying career in professional baseball to play college football, but the fact of the matter is he just isn't good enough.

And the sooner Fickell and the Buckeye coaches realize that, they should be prepared to staple him to the bench and keep him there as long as possible.

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