INDIANAPOLIS — Sitting in front of the assembled media in Ann Arbor one week ago following a knee injury in the Michigan game, Buckeye quarterback J.T. Barrett said he would be playing in the Big Ten Championship Game in seven days.
He didn’t know then, however, that he would be undergoing knee surgery the very next day.
An arthroscopic procedure to repair the meniscus in his right knee put Barrett’s availability in doubt this week.
But not to Barrett.
“On Saturday after we played the team up north, I said I was going to play next week. So if I didn’t, I was kind of going to be a liar. And I wouldn’t lie,” he said following Ohio State’s 27-21 win over Wisconsin to earn the Buckeyes a Big Ten Championship.
Barrett played from the first snap to the last snap. He completed 12-of-26 passes for 211 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He wasn’t perfect. Far from it. He missed a couple of sure-thing touchdown passes to open receivers, he wasn’t nearly as mobile as he has shown in the past, and his touch virtually disappeared in the second half.
But he was out there. Six days after knee surgery.
After the game, Urban Meyer admitted to being skeptical of Barrett’s ability to play in the game, but his faith in his quarterback never wavered.
“It never does,” he said. “I’ve had (Tim) Tebow and this kid’s a lot like him. How you keep him out of a game, I just don’t know how it happens.”
Barrett spent 14-15 hours a day rehabbing with OSU trainer Adam Stewart. The pair were practically inseparable. Quarterbacks coach Ryan Day said there was never a wasted moment when it came to Barrett’s rehab, to the point where the Buckeye QB was rehabbing and working on Wisconsin at the same time.
There were a number of reasons why Barrett fought so hard to play in this game, but the memory of missing out in 2014 still looms large.
“I was saying to myself last time I got us to the party but I wasn’t let in,” he said. “So this time there’s opportunity for me to go play in this game, I was going to do whatever it takes to go out there and play with my brothers knowing that it’s my senior year. This was one of the reasons why I came back, to play in big-time games like this.”
In all of his years as a coach, Meyer can only remember one of his players returning in the span of one week from arthroscopic surgery. Structurally, everything was fine, but Barrett’s ability to handle pain throughout the game was what kept him on the field.
“He’s a pro and he’s tough and he has the heart of a lion,” Day said. “He never had any doubt in his mind that he was going to play in this game. He wanted to play from the beginning. He told everybody he was going to play in the game, and that’s what he did.”
Barrett doesn’t see what he did over the past six days as special, he viewed it as necessary. His team needed him, he needed them, and together they went out and won a Big Ten Championship.
The numbers weren’t great, but the determination was.
“It’s crazy. I’ll tell you, he’s just a resilient guy,” said defensive line coach Larry Johnson. “It’s unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like this. You’d have to drag him off the field tonight because he was not going to not be out on the field.”
As I have always said, you can win a Big 10 championship with Barrett but never a National one. Interceptions & poor pass rush almost cost OSU the game. To Barretts credit the first down pick up on 4th down run after being hit behind line of scrimmage was OUTSTANDING. { I wonder if Jim Harbough was watching} If you want to see a great college QB watch USC Play OSU on 29 of Dec. O yes, Take the points!!!
Unfortunately he did play AND he gave Wisky 15 points which turned a romp into a squeaker and probably kept us out of the playoffs. Nice job, Urban.
I’m glad that the all time OSU QB wins record is now held by JT.
Proving that you don’t need to be a great qb to do it! Just play on an uber talented team and the wins will find you!
wasnt always pretty and yes some horrible throws but I don’t know that OSU wins this without JT–I’m very happy for him and the team and hopefully by bowl time is 100% healthy–heart of a warrior and it carries on to the entire team…..and don’t forget that besides some poor throws there were a few drops early on–one for a TD–THAt alone woulda started the blowout if the pass dropped right into his hands was caught…..Go Bucks!
I’ll help you out….yes, the do win without JT!
Agree with Mr. Mills. All you expert bobbleheads out there are so quick to find fault with JT and really anyone else who doesn’t match up to your perfect expectations and “unquestioned” expertise in all facets of the game. My question to you “experts”….you know so much, why aren’t you coaching? …anywhere, much less The Ohio State University? Way to go JT, JK, Big Deee, and the rest of the Buckeyes!
Agree with Mr. Mills. All you expert bobbleheads out there are so quick to find fault with JT and really anyone else who doesn’t match up to your perfect expectations and “unquestioned” expertise in all facets of the game. My question to you “experts”….you know so much, why aren’t you coaching? …anywhere, much less The Ohio State University? Way to go JT, JK, Big Deee, and the rest of the Buceyes!
Why is unquestioned and experts in quotations? Did anybody claim they were an expert or that their statements were unquestionable? Wouldn’t a bobblehead be someone in agreement all of the time?
We win the game, and the first two posts are two clowns, who coached peewee at best, telling us all what WOULD HAVE happened.
It must be difficult to call the plays the DAY AFTER……
Kevin and Bobby- first off, by commenting YOU have joined the list of ‘expert bobbleheads”. Do you see the irony in that? No? Didn’t think so. Secondly, and back to the word of actual reality, I have relentlessly defended JT on this site. It boggles my mind that people would find fault with wanting to protect the guy’s HEALTH. It also boggles my mind that people blissfully IGNORE hard facts from so fresh a game. You are the same jokers who, 20 years from now, will be telling your grandkids that JT was 26 for 26 on the night with 400 yards passing. You’ll conveniently forget that his rushing TD was earned, in fact, by JK Dobbins and that it was disloyal to an extreme that JK didn’t get at least one shot to score it from the one. In short, you’ll become like the UM and Ped State fans so many of us despise. Was JT’s performance gutsy? Of course it was. LOTS of other folks played lights out though, which was my original point. Sheesh.
You can’t comment on the game the day before!
Happy for JT. He has been a warrior and great representative and glad to see him get a championship but it’s definitely time for him to go. His picks last night were just awful decisions and once again he had more carries than either running back. We are just so predictable at key moments in big games with him. We should’ve blown Bucky right off the field last night. Game should’ve been 20 point victory. Drove me nuts watching the game.
And it almost cost tOSU a big ten title. With Haskins this game is over early. It’s not so heroic when he probably cost them a trip to playoffs
Wisconsin is lucky he played!!
First things first- Glad OSU won, Big 10 Champs! GREAT work by OSU defense in almost every facet, glad JK was player of the game. Liked seeing Malik Harrison out there doing well. Denzel Ward continues to shine, what a player. Great all around defense vs the Wisky run too…
Now on to the article. “The numbers weren’t great”- understatement of the day. LESS than fifty percent passing? And I think JT ran two more times than JK Dobbins to get ONE THIRD of JKs yardage? And the head coach rhetorically asking how you keep JT out of a game? I’ll go ahead and answer without anything rhetorical involved- you don’t play him! That was risky to the point of being foolish and its miraculous he wasn’t injured further (although, who knows, he could have been- we just won’t be told).
On to the debate about whether OSU belongs in the playoff or should be playing a team like USC in a New Years 6 game (which would be pretty cool too). Its gonna be interesting around noon Sunday folks!
Not even I will find fault in the flaws from this game. He did something last night that very few human beings cou7ld have or even SHOULD have done. He stepped onto the field of play of one of the fastest and hardest hitting games just 6 days removed from a surgery that normally sidelines guys for 2 weeks and more. He did it without whining or complaining and he played at a high level and brought home the win on the biggest stage he’s ever played on. That is the heart and soul of a winner and a warrior. He didn’t play soft and they didn’t try to reinvent the offense to shade for his injury. He stepped up and got the job done. It wasn’t always pretty, but it was enough to get the job done.
Barrett delivered his 37th win moving him into first place all time for winning QB’s at Ohio State. Makes me smile and shake my head realizing that his 37th win comes with delivering the Buckeyes 37th Conference title. KARMA, GRACE, FAVOR? Who knows, but, it was certainly smiling down on JT Barrett last night.
NOW all those other records have the shine of a championship to give the JT Barrett legacy a complete circle of structure.
Well done MR. Barrett. Well done indeed!
Yes he has heart and soul….GREAT! The rest of the post sounds very dramatic but he is a hum drum qb running an uber talented team! Four years with all of that talent and the wins will find you. I find him to be incredibly forgettable!!!
The guy is, as CEO Meyer would say, a winner. Back in 2014 I didn’t think the Buckeyes could win a National Title with JT as the starting quarterback. Still don’t think so. I still appreciate what he’s meant to the program. I’ve had my knee blown out and it took a good amount of time (even if medicine has gotten better since then) to get anywhere near performance level again. That JT was able to get himself ready to go on 6 days of recovery is pretty darned amazing. He got the championship win he came back for. I’m proud that he has been a Buckeye.