COLUMBUS, Ohio — Cardale Jones has a flair for embracing his newfound fame, and anyplace he goes is a stage. His latest performance came at Ohio State’s media day over the weekend, when Jones, the quarterback who went from third-stringer to starter as the Buckeyes won the national championship last season, sat down at a table with his 9-month-old daughter, Chloe, on his lap to conduct his interviews.Quickly swallowed by a sea of flashing cameras and peppered with questions, Jones lounged in his chair and flashed a wide smile. Once cast as an afterthought in the program, Jones is now one of its most prominent faces, a role he seems to welcome.But as Ohio State prepares for the season, Jones finds himself in a duel with J. T. Barrett, the sophomore who was a Heisman Trophy contender last season before a season-ending injury handed the quarterback job to Jones, for the right to guide the top-ranked Buckeyes.This is a season-defining choice that has come slowly into focus over the last seven months. It is also one that is approached with a certain level of hand-wringing by Coach Urban Meyer and his staff, since they face the prospect of having to pick between Barrett and Jones, two preseason Heisman contenders who have proved themselves worthy of a position only one can play.“It’s a blessing,” said Tim Beck, the quarterbacks coach, “but it’s a curse.”In one corner there is Jones, who arrived at the team’s training camp hotel in black Ray-Bans and a sleeveless shirt featuring Ronda Rousey, the Ultimate Fighting Championship star whom he has courted over social media. The freewheeling Jones was once most famous for writing “We ain’t come to play SCHOOL, classes are POINTLESS” on Twitter, and so low was his status that when Meyer took over Ohio State’s program in 2012, he said Jones had a “one-way bus ticket” back to his hometown, Cleveland.But Jones — whose nickname is “12 Gauge” because of his jersey number, his big frame and his strong arm — became a star almost overnight when he helped the Buckeyes trounce Wisconsin, 59-0, in the Big Ten championship game last season. It was his first start. As an encore, he led Ohio State over Alabama and Oregon in the inaugural College Football Playoff. Days later, Jones, a fourth-year junior, announced that he would return and compete for the starting quarterback job.That put him in direct competition with Barrett, a steady sophomore from Wichita Falls, Tex. Unlike Jones with his flamboyant personality, Barrett is more reserved, known for his more instinctive brand of leadership and his galvanizing locker-room speeches. “When he talks, you listen,” Taylor Decker, the Buckeyes’ senior left tackle and a team captain, said last season.Last season, Barrett won 11 games, broke 19 university records and passed and ran for a combined 45 touchdowns after taking over for Braxton Miller, who sustained a season-ending shoulder injury less than two weeks before the opener. …
Continue Reading: Ohio State’s Quarterback Plan Still Unclear Months After National Title
