If you’re wondering who the worst quarterback in (the history of) college football is, you need to look no further than the once proud Ohio State Buckeyes, who (for some reason) claim 5th year senior Joe Bauserman, is quarterback material.
Joe plays for a (mightily) struggling Ohio State team who is 3-3 on the season, and 0-2 in the Big Ten for the first time since 2004.
He played well against the dismal Akron Zips, completing 75% of his passes for 163 yards and 3 touchdowns. On the ground, he added another score to go with 32 rushing yards. For a day, at least, the Buckeye faithful were comfortable with the quarterback situation.
Those comfortable feelings were put to the test the following week against another MAC opponent, the Toledo Rockets. Joe ended the game with a QB Rating of 117.3, but the explosiveness we had seen from the Buckeye offense against the Zips, was nowhere to be found against the Rockets. The fact that Braxton Miller, who had also played well against Akron, never even seen the field despite offensive struggles against Toledo, converted those comfortable feelings, to on-edge feelings for Buckeye Nation.
The truth is, Joe isn’t even a decent quarterback. Maybe he’s an ‘ok’ quarterback due to his ability to take care of the ball, but even that’s pushing it too far. Joe has found a simple solution to throwing interceptions, throw the ball so far out of bounds, that even your own teammate can’t catch the ball. The result of this particular style of play is reached with mixed reaction. There are very little turnovers to speak of, because, like I said, Joe throws the ball into the nose-bleeds before he even thinks about trying to make a play.
On the backside of that small reward, Joe threw for a combined 26 yards on 3 of 24 pass attempts and 1 interception against the Hurricanes and Cornhuskers, and his third highest passing total is only 87 yards. In his defense, he has only thrown one interception on the year. That interception, however, didn’t occur in their blowout victory over Akron, or during Miami’s butt-kicking. No, Joe decided to throw his first interception of the year when his team needed him the most, tied at 27 with Nebraska.
The Nebraska game was a winnable game, even after Ohio State’s 21 point lead was erased. Had Braxton Miller not injured his ankle, we might be talking about how the Buckeyes played inspired football en route to a Big Ten road victory. The fact is, he did injure his ankle, leaving the outcome of the game in Joe’s hands.
We all knew what was coming. When Joe entered the game, Ohio State was up 27-13. Everyone, probably even Joe himself, knew that the inevitable was going to happen, that the Buckeyes were going to choke away their two touchdown lead with Joe at QB. Nine plays after Joe entered the game, the Buckeyes suddenly found themselves clinging to a 7 point lead. With the game tied at 27, Joe threw his first pick of the year, and four plays later, Nebraska scored the games final touchdown, completing the comeback for a 34-27.
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Truth be told, Joe is the worst quarterback at Ohio State in recent memory. He compares to Steve Bellisari, who was also often criticized for his play on Saturday’s. Buckeye fans would only be so lucky, however, if Joe would be suspended like Bellisari was.
Fans are begging anyone, and everyone, to come forward with any information they may have that would leave the poor excuse of a quarterback, ineligible for the rest of the season. I have a theory that there’s a group of Buckeye boosters sitting at a table somewhere, trying to scheme-up ways to get Joe in trouble. I find it very ironic that most fans, myself included, would sacrifice further NCAA sanctions if Joe got in trouble.
Joe really should have stuck to baseball. He had a career record of 14-12 in the minors, which is probably the only winning record he will ever have as an athlete. His career ERA of 3.42, is slightly higher than the average number of points the Ohio State offense scores with him at QB.
When I watch Joe play, one question comes to mind every single time. If Luke Fickell really wanted to make an impression on Athletic Director, Gene Smith, and University President Gordon Gee, with a successful season, why, in God’s name, would he ever decide to start Joe Bauserman at quarterback?
Joe is terrible, absolutely awful, as a quarterback. He looks like he belongs at a hole-in-the-wall bar, drunk on a barstool, not signal caller for one of the most successful teams in the history of college football.
If sophomore Kenny Guiton, and freshman Taylor Graham are really worse than Joe is, please – please – remove them from the team immediately. If they’re not, then why in the hell aren’t they getting a shot on Saturday’s?
Personally, I question Miller’s toughness. Maybe his ankle was really sprained, but I got to think that Miller considers himself a true competitor. If that’s the case, in my opinion, he would’ve done his best to walk it off, and probably would’ve told the trainer to tape the ankle the best they could so he could enter back into the game. That’s not what happened, however, and the status of Miller’s ankle is uncertain.
Guiton is said to have a similar skill-set to Miller, which is the way to go if the offense wants to be successful this season. Graham is a tall quarterback, standing at 6’4, and is more of a pocket passer than any of the QBs on Ohio State‘s roster. Either of these two quarterbacks can do no worse than Joe, and are in fact, more likely to move the ball on offense. At least with Guiton and Graham, you can blame the offensive miscues on youth and maturity. With Joe, Luke takes all the blame, and rightfully so. Even sophomore Justin Siems would be a better fit at quarterback, though his name was never even mentioned in the same breath as “starting quarterback”.
If Miller is out for next week’s game on the road against Illinois, and Luke doesn’t give Guiton or Graham a fair shot, he should be fired on the spot.
Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith, is looking for some slack from Buckeye Nation, and could probably get it by firing Luke Fickell as Ohio State’s head football coach. Much of Buckeye Nation is angry with Smith for the way he painted former head coach Jim Tressel as a lying, two-faced hypocrite during the scandal that wrecked a promising 2011 season for the Buckeyes. Should he relieve Luke of his head coaching duties, he’d have the full support of Buckeye Nation, though in the end, he himself should also be fired.
Buckeye Nation wanted so bad to support Luke Fickell as he proceeded with the daunting task of trying to manage a successful season this year with a depleted Ohio State team. His decisions, most notably his handling of the QB situation, among other things, have made it nearly impossible to cheer him on.
If Luke stood before me right now, I’d ask him how in the hell Joe was ever even considered for the starting quarterback situation. Again, he doesn’t turn the ball over, and that’s good, but he doesn’t even take a single risk to try and make a play for the offense.
For one reason or another, Luke doesn’t see that Joe is incapable of playing quarterback at the college level and continues to shoot himself in the foot by playing Joe. Joe weighs 230 pounds, if Luke insist on playing him, perhaps it’d be better to put some weight on him and convert him to a tenth-string offensive lineman, anywhere but quarterback.
Joe is on his way out at Ohio State, and may be the only player to ever be booed and jeered on Senior Day. The future of the quarterback position, rest in the hands of Braxton Miller, Kenny Guiton, Taylor Graham or Justin Siems. If Luke plays any of those guys instead of Joe, he doesn’t catch nearly as much grief from the fans and media.
When all is said and done, Joe will probably go down as the worst quarterback to ever step on a football field – at any level of play, including biddy league. Assuming Luke sticks to his guns and continues to play Joe, Luke himself will go down as the worst head coach in the history of the game.
In a lost ditch effort to save the Ohio State football season, I’ve considered turning to a state representative to see if there’s anything they can do about the quarterback situation at Ohio State. It’s probably a pipe dream that they could ever do anything about it, but it’s certainly worth a shot. In a perfect world, Joe would quit the team, but I’d settle for a 50% completion percentage and the occasional touchdown pass. Basketball season is right around the corner, thank the lord.
Go Bucks!
