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Kirk Herbstreit offers thoughts on J.T. Barrett’s Heisman chances
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Is J.T. Barrett in the Heisman discussion? Or is poor competition the sole reason behind the impressive numbers through seven games this season?
Those were the questions ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit was asked during his spot on College Football Live on Tuesday. And, according to the college football analyst, those questions will most likely be answered this weekend as Ohio State hosts Penn State.
While Saquon Barkley has stolen the Heisman spotlight this season, there is still some chatter about Barrett and his success. He’s thrown for 1,838 yards and 21 touchdowns while completing 67 percent of his passes. He’s only thrown one interception on the year.
Barrett has also rushed for 359 yards and five touchdowns this season.
Most have contributed Barrett’s incredible success to a weak schedule, and believe the “real” Barrett will show up against Penn State this weekend.
Though Herbstreit says there are really only three guys in the Heisman race right now — Barkley, Baker Mayfield and Bryce Love — he believes that Barrett could easily work his way into the conversation.
“The next name that a ton of people bring up is J.T. Barrett because the numbers speak for themselves,” Herbstreit said. “If Ohio State wins and he plays great, he’s in the discussion.
“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’s how this game could go, one way or the other, for J.T. Barrett.”
After the Oklahoma loss, Barrett has caught plenty of criticism for his inability to stretch the field and his struggles with accuracy. But since Week 2, the Ohio State gunslinger has thrown 18 touchdown passes without an interception and his completing passes at a 72 percent clip.
But Herbstreit’s right, fans won’t really care about all of that if Barrett plays as poorly as he did in the Oklahoma game.
So, by the end of the weekend, Barrett will either be in the Heisman conversation, or will be one of the most overrated quarterbacks of the season.
College football, right?
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