Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer isn’t ready to name a starting quarterback for the program’s Week 4 contest against Western Michigan.
He spoke with media on Monday about his team’s disappointing performance in Week 3 against Northern Illinois. Cardale Jones started that game but was quickly replaced by J.T. Barrett after throwing a couple of early interceptions.
Many have thought Barrett would be the easy choice going forward, given the fact that Jones has struggled so much early in the season, but that might not be the case. Bruce Feldman of Foxsports.com reports Meyer isn’t ready to name the starter yet but that Jones has received the bulk of reps at practice.
Urban Meyer says he hasn't decided who will start at QB this week for #OhioState.. Cardale Jones has gotten the majority of practice reps
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) September 21, 2015
Meyer is understandably frustrated with the lack of explosion on offense. “That’s a high, high emphasis right now,” he said, via Bill Rabinowitz. The team scored just 20 points against Northern Illinois and couldn’t get anything going in the passing game.
The coach hinted after last week’s embarrassing near-miss that he might consider sticking with one quarterback, rather than letting them hash things out during games.
Both quarterbacks are struggling to complete passes, and as a team the Buckeyes are converting just 56 percent of their attempts. Jones has been better at connecting downfield, but he’s also thrown three interceptions, compared to just one by Barrett.
Thankfully Meyer and his quarterbacks have a bit of time to work out these kinks, due to a favorable schedule. The only real big test on the slate this year is in late November when Ohio State hosts Michigan State (No. 2).
That said, if the offense continues to sputter, the door will be open for a team that should probably have no business winning against the Buckeyes to pull off a huge upset.