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Fair or not, J.T. Barrett’s legacy will be defined by his performance against Penn State
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Do it against Penn State.
Those words have overshadowed every single one of J.T. Barrett’s accomplishments this season. The phrase has followed him after every game and each record-breaking performance since Ohio State lost to Oklahoma. It hasn’t mattered what the senior quarterback has done to try and distance himself from that Saturday night seven weeks ago, that sentence continues to stalk him.
Barrett has thrown 18 touchdown passes, posted a 72 percent completion rate and hasn’t tossed a single interception since the 31-15 loss to the Sooners. The Buckeyes haven’t dropped a game since and sit at a perfect 4-0 in conference play.
In Ohio State’s final non-conference game, Barrett threw five touchdown passes in the first two quarters against UNLV. A few Saturdays later, he connected on three-of-six deep passes against Rutgers, showing off his ability to stretch the field. Two weeks ago in Lincoln, Barrett completed 80 percent of his passes and accounted for seven total touchdowns in a blowout win over Nebraska.
He eclipsed the 10,000-yard mark and became the B1G’s all-time leading touchdown-getter earlier this season.
Do it against Penn State, or none of it matters.
Fair or not, Saturday’s showdown between No. 6 Ohio State and No. 2 Penn State will be the defining moment for Barrett. The legacy of a quarterback with over two dozen program records to his name and a career mark of 32-5 as a starter depends on this one weekend.
It seems almost silly, doesn’t it? The notion that Barrett — who was thrown into the fire as a freshman and led the Buckeyes to the B1G Championship Game in 2014 — is now in a make-or-break type of situation. But football is a “what have you done for me lately” business, and the memories of that incredible run have all but vanquished.
What’s been on the front of everyone’s mind lately has been Barrett’s struggles in the last two outings against ranked opponents, last year’s Fiesta Bowl against eventual champion Clemson and that Week 2 loss to then-No. 5 Oklahoma.
The numbers from those two games are pretty humbling.
Year Opponent Comp./Att. Yards TDs/INTs 2016 No. 2 Clemson 19/33 127 0/2 2017 No. 5 Oklahoma 19/35 183 0/1
So it’s understandable why there’s some skepticism about Barrett’s ability to perform at a high level against a quality defense. Though he’s done it in the past — Michigan State in 2014 and Oklahoma in 2016 — he’s fallen short in the most important moments recently.
Fortunately, those two forgettable outings can all be absolved this weekend.
Doing it against Penn State would require Barrett to pick apart the nation’s best scoring defense and the seventh-best at defending the pass. He’d have to play mistake-free football against one of the more opportunistic teams in the B1G. That’s not an easy challenge, but if Barrett steers the Buckeyes past the Nittany Lions, those two losses won’t be thrown in his face on a weekly basis anymore, at least in the short-term.
This is an interesting Saturday for Barrett, because there really is no middle ground here. ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit may have summed it up best during his Tuesday appearance on College Football Live.
“If Ohio State wins and he plays great, he’s in the (Heisman) discussion,” Herbstreit said. “If Ohio State doesn’t play well and he’s holding the ball and they don’t execute, his own fans are going to be talking about how they’d like to bench him.”
That same measure of thought can be applied to Barrett’s career. While he’s enjoyed an incredible amount of individual success and accounted for several wins during his time in Columbus, he’s not come through in some of the biggest moments.
It was Cardale Jones who won the B1G Championship, knocked off Alabama and then beat Oregon to claim that 2014 national championship. Barrett hasn’t done any of those things as a starter.
Maybe that’s an unfair disclaimer since the Buckeyes would’ve never been in that position without Barrett, but it’s a clarification that his critics are quick to make.
This is an all-or-nothing weekend for Barrett. If Ohio State beats the second-ranked Nittany Lions, he could go down as one of the greatest players in program history. If the Buckeyes fall short to another ranked opponent, Barrett could be remembered as the guy who never won “the big one.”
It all depends on whether or not he can do it against Penn State.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB