BLACKSBURG, Va. — Cardale Jones insists he didn’t find out he would be Ohio State’s starting quarterback until the last possible moment.
Standing on the sideline as the Buckeyes defense forced a three-and-out on its first series of the season against Virginia Tech on Monday night, Jones claims he still didn’t know whether it would be him or J.T. Barrett who would lead the OSU offense onto the field.
As both he and Barrett stepped into the Buckeyes huddle, doubt crept into Jones’ mind.
“I started to take a couple of steps to the sideline,” he said.
It proved to be his first mistake of the night.
As Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer signaled in his team’s first offensive play, he called for Jones—and not Barrett—to remain on the field with the first-team offense. “When you found out, I find out,” Jones said.
With that, the most-talked-about quarterback competition in college football finally received some clarity as Jones went on to lead Ohio State to a 42-24 victory over the Hokies. But while the Buckeyes were certainly thrilled to escape Blacksburg with a win, Ohio State’s quarterback situation remains anything but settled.
With a 9-for-18, 186-yard, two-touchdown, one-interception passing performance, Jones put together the least impressive game of his college career, which at this point still just contains four starts—all Buckeyes victories.
Even with an additional 99 yards and a touchdown on the ground, Jones failed to assert…
Continue Reading: Cardale Jones or J.T. Barrett? Why Ohio State QB Battle Will Linger
