OHIO STATE

Ready to lead again: Barrett learns from adversity

Jon Spencer
Reporter

With two seasons of eligibility remaining,  J.T. Barrett has already rewritten the record book, ranked among the leaders in Heisman Trophy voting and played a major role in Ohio State winning a national championship.

You don’t need to look hard to find his image gracing countless magazine covers as the unquestioned leader of a team touted among the nation’s best.

And yet there have been times in his college career when the junior quarterback could have wallowed in depression.

Or, to use a metaphor he would approve, drowned in self-pity.

Racing for his life: Friends, new car keep him alive

The first time was when he broke his ankle in the 2014 regular-season finale against Michigan. Up to that point, he was enjoying, statistically, probably the greatest season ever by an OSU quarterback, helping the Buckeyes clinch a berth in the Big Ten Championship Game before they even took the field against their archrival.

Cardale Jones replaced Barrett and went from second string afterthought to folk hero, preserving the win over Michigan and then piloting a magical post-season run past Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon to a national championship.

The second test of Barrett’s mettle came when Jones opted not to take his powerful right arm and rising stock to the NFL. He won his heavily-scrutinized battle with Barrett to open the 2015 season as the starter for the first team in history to be a unanimous No. 1 in the Associated Press preseason poll.

Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett has the job all to himself after dueling with Cardale Jones last season.

But it was the third curveball thrown Barrett’s way – ironically, by him – that challenged the Texan’s character and resiliency the most.

One week after he regained the starting job and looked like vintage J.T. Barrett against Rutgers, he was charged with drunk driving. It was a bye week, so the story festered through his one-week suspension and into the season’s stretch run.

Like 2014, the Big Ten East, essentially, was decided one week prior to Ohio State-Michigan. This time the Buckeyes suffered an inexplicable loss at home to Michigan State, playing without starting quarterback Connor Cook. It cost Ohio State a chance at a repeat Big Ten title and national championship.

And people began to wonder if the season was a total loss for Barrett. Perhaps everyone but him.

“It gave me another perspective on how life is and how I need to live my life,” he said of his arrest and suspension. “I’m reading a book called ‘The Noticer Returns’ by (self-help) author Andy Andrews. He talks about getting pushed in the pool. It’s all about how you get out of the pool and dry yourself off and keep on going.

“It was one of those things where life pushed me in the pool. It was all because of a decision I made. What I went through was a serious thing and shouldn’t be taken lightly. God knew I was strong enough to handle it and now I’m in a position to help others. He allowed it to happen and I’m glad he did, because I learned a lot from it.”

The week of his suspension Barrett didn’t hide from embarrassment. He did everything he otherwise could to fulfill his obligations as a captain, addressing the struggling Buckeyes at halftime of an eventual 28-14 win over Minnesota.

“It doesn’t always have to be a negative thing,” Barrett said of his self-inflicted wound. “The first couple of days I sulked on my own sorrow, or whatever you want to call it. I was trying to figure out ‘Why this? Why now?’ I was really on a good path as far as coming off a good game against Rutgers, getting myself together, but it shed some light on things.

Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett celebrates with his teammates after scoring a touchdown in last year's 42-13 win over Michigan.

“I had a good support system to help me out and it contributed to the good games I played at the end of the year.”

Sticking with the Andy Andrews analogy, the season ended swimmingly for Barrett as the Buckeyes exploded past Michigan (42-13), ruining Jim Harbaugh’s coaching debut in the rivalry, and then Notre Dame (44-28) in the Fiesta Bowl.

He showed off the dual-threat skills that led to 19 school or Big Ten records before getting hurt in 2014, including 3,772 total yards (school mark) and 45 total touchdowns (league mark). Two weeks after getting carted off the field, he finished fifth in Heisman balloting.

Much was made of oft-criticized offensive coordinator Ed Warinner moving up to the press box for a fresh perspective those last two games of last season. But Barrett confirmed the Buckeyes also played more up-tempo in those wins than at any other time during the season.

After taking over at quarterback in 2014 when Braxton Miller re-injured his shoulder late in training camp, Barrett eventually thrived in that attack mode under then-coordinator and up-tempo guru Tom Herman, now wearing out scoreboards as head coach at Houston.

Once the game slowed down for Barrett, he was able to play faster.

“As a young guy coming in here, I couldn’t play fast because things were still moving fast in my mind,” Barrett said. “With the experience I have now, the game has slowed down and that has helped me play fast. When you’re playing fast and the game is still fast in your mind, you’re thinking about what you’re trying to do instead of reacting.

“Then it comes to the point where you see things before they happen. Or when things are moving, it’s like they’re moving in slow motion.”

To a seasoned vet like Barrett, if things seem like they’re moving at a slower pace, at least early this season, some of that might be because Ohio State is replacing 16 starters ­ — including 12 taken in the first four rounds of the draft, an NFL record.

On offense alone, they need to replace three starting linemen, receivers Michael Thomas and Jalin Marshall, tight end Nick Vannett and Barrett’s most destructive sidekick, tailback Ezekiel Elliott.

But look at preseason rankings and Ohio State is still considered a top 10, even top 5 team. Why? Because of its quarterback.

“When you’re the quarterback, you learn very quickly you don’t lose here,” Barrett said of Ohio State. “I don’t think it's pressure. I think Peyton Manning said it best: Pressure is something you feel when you’re not prepared. When you’re prepared, there’s no pressure.”

Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett runs for yardage against Notre Dame in the Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl.

Coach Urban Meyer knows Barrett can handle it.

In black marker on a white board in the team meeting room this spring was the equation “Quarterback = Heisman.”

Yes, Barrett was in serious contention in 2014. But that’s not what Meyer meant.

Yes, Barrett is on everybody’s Heisman watch again this season. But that’s not it, either.

“The message was very clear to our team, and if you’re going to play quarterback at Ohio State, you need to be a Heisman candidate,” Meyer said after OSU’s spring game. “So I don’t need phone calls … ‘Well, my son should be able to play.’ No, no. If you play quarterback at Ohio State in this offense, you have to be a Heisman candidate, or we’re going to suffer. You have to be a high draft pick to play defensive end. We’re not embarrassed. We’re not ashamed to say that’s what has to happen. If you play receiver at Ohio State, you have to start in the National Football League. You have to be an NFL tight end.”

Except it’s not going to be the defensive end or receiver or tight end who gets most of the credit. Or the blame if the young-and-unproven Buckeyes stub their toe on the road this season against the likes of Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan State.

It’s Barrett.

“I don’t believe anyone puts more pressure on me than myself, just because I want to be great and help the team,” he said. “Even if I didn’t live my life that way, it’s a day in the life of the Ohio State quarterback. Expectations are part of it.”

jspencer@nncogannett.com

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About This Story

This feature profile by Jon Spencer on Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett appears in USA Today's special edition College Football Preview, on sale now. 

Spencer will be in Chicago for Big Ten Media Days on Monday and Tuesday. He'll be tweeting each day from the convention as well as shooting videos and writing stories.

Ohio State's representatives — head coach Urban Meyer and his three captains, Barrett, center Pat Elflein and middle linebacker Raekwon McMillan — will appear in front of the media on Tuesday.