Cardale Jones may very well have a great future as a quarterback, but he will not engineer a victory over the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten Championship game.
Jones is being pressed into action after J.T. Barrett suffered a season-ending injury to his ankle on Saturday in the Ohio State Buckeyes’ 42-28 win over the Michigan Wolverines. ESPN College Football has the bad news:
Barrett is a freshman second-stringer who was only playing because starter Braxton Miller was injured during a summer practice. The Buckeyes are now down to their third-string quarterback. Anyway you spin that, it just isn’t encouraging heading into the postseason.
The nature of the Bucks postseason depends on what they are able to do against the Badgers on Dec. 6.
A win would presumably put them right in the thick of things for the fourth spot in the College Football Playoff rankings. That’s assuming things stay to form with the top three teams (Alabama Crimson Tide, Oregon Ducks and Florida State Seminoles).
Ohio State would have a great case for making the final four with a quality win over a team like Wisconsin to close out its Big Ten season. Much of those hopes will be riding on the broad shoulders of an untested quarterback.
Jones is a sophomore who has thrown just 19 passes in two seasons. He’ll likely be asked to throw more than that on Saturday alone.
He’s known for his remarkable athleticism, per teammate Jeff Heuerman and others. Heuerman told Bill Landis of…
Continue Reading: Cardale Jones and Ohio State Will Fall to Wisconsin in Big Ten Title Game
