Ohio State Football: How Buckeyes Offense Must Adjust After Struggles vs. Navy

After throwing the first interception of his college career, J.T. Barrett decided to have a conversation with himself.

“I was like, ‘J.T., you knew you shouldn’t have thrown it. But you still threw it,'” the Ohio State quarterback recalled. “‘Now you gotta make up for it.'”

And while Barrett did just that in the first start of his college career, throwing for 226 yards and two touchdowns—and yes, one interception—in Ohio State’s 34-17 victory over Navy on Saturday, a self-induced pep talk won’t be enough to save the Buckeyes in Week 2.

Because while the Midshipmen made for more of a headache than anything else in a game that was closer than the final score indicated, Virginia Tech won’t be as forgiving to an inexperienced OSU offense when the Hokies come to Columbus next week.

A young quarterback thrust into the spotlight and an offensive line still searching for its starters both contributed to a Buckeyes offense that Urban Meyer admitted was still without an identity in Ohio State’s season opener. Whether the Buckeyes will be able to find one by next Saturday remains to be seen, but Meyer at least now knows what he’s working with in what unexpectedly has become one of the biggest challenges of his coaching career.

Breaking Down Barrett

It was tough to grade Barrett after the first start of the redshirt freshman’s college career, considering that as expected he wasn’t asked to do anything too demanding. But nevertheless, Meyer attempted to, giving…

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