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
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, Texas. 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 suffered a season-ending shoulder injury less than two weeks before the opener. (Miller, a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, is also back. He returned to Ohio State for a fifth season but will play wide receiver while his arm continues to heal.)
As the season nears, matters are reaching a confluence of sorts; Barrett and Jones rotate with the first-team offense during practices, and Meyer has been doing his best not to take sides. “We’re going to play the guy that helps us win,” he said at the Big Ten media days in July.
Meyer has said he will not name a starter until the season opener Sept. 7 against Virginia Tech. In the meantime, the coaching staff has focused a careful lens on Jones and Barrett, dissecting seemingly their every move in what Meyer said would be a “data-driven” decision with a touch of whatever feeling rests in his gut.
The coaches are logging metrics as if they were scientists preparing to launch a rocket into space: Completion percentages. First downs. Turnovers. Third-down conversion rates. Efficiency in the red zone.
“I kind of look at everything to see who’s performing the best and who’s the best fit for our team and keeps our offense playing at the level it’s been playing at,” Beck said.
Indeed, this is a battle to start at quarterback, but it is also the chance to be the face of a program that has nestled itself atop the college football world in Meyer’s three seasons.
“We created a monster,” Meyer said. “You’ve got to feed it.”
The duel has captivated football-crazed Columbus. At a local ice cream parlor, there are two tip jars featuring photos of Barrett and Jones. Attached is a small laminated note that reads, “Who are you rooting for?” At a liquor store north of campus, the sign out front reads, “JT or CARDALE.”
The Buckeyes have played down the competition. “They’re both working their tails off, and it’s one of the most refreshing competitions I’ve ever witnessed,” Meyer said.
Barrett and Jones said they had remained close because they have learned to compartmentalize their friendship and their on-field battle.
“I want the best for this team,” Barrett said. “So if it’s not me and it’s him, that’s the way it should be, because that’s not right to everybody else.”
Jones offered a similar stance, saying, “It’s about more than just me.”
In a twist, Meyer has also suggested that he is open to a two-quarterback system — which he used with Chris Leak and Tim Tebow at Florida to win the 2006 national championship — but that sort of resolution appears unlikely.
“I don’t think that would be a great idea,” Jones said. “I don’t know how well that would work as far as rhythm and definitely timing with guys.”
Barrett said a platoon system would disrupt the flow of the offense.
