One week after winning back the starting job, Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett, a redshirt sophomore and a team captain, was cited Saturday morning by the Columbus police on a charge of operating a vehicle under the influence, a misdemeanor. Barrett was suspended for one game by coach Urban Meyer.
The incident, reported by the website Eleven Warriors, was confirmed in a statement Saturday morning by Ohio State’s athletics department.
Multiple news outlets have reported that Barrett, 20, was arrested at a checkpoint near campus and that his blood-alcohol concentration registered slightly over Ohio’s limit of 0.08 percent for those over 21. However, the limit is 0.02 percent for those under 21.
Barrett’s story is one of the more compelling in college football this season.
Unexpectedly thrust into the starting job last season when presumed starter Braxton Miller sustained a season-ending injury in the summer, Barrett led Ohio State to an 11-1 record before breaking his ankle in the final game of the season. At that point, Cardale Jones, now a redshirt junior, took over and went 3-0 en route to the national championship.
Jones held onto the starting job until Meyer announced that Barrett would start on Oct. 24 at Rutgers. Barrett had a stellar game, establishing himself as the presumptive starter for the remainder of the season.
No. 1 Ohio State (8-0, 4-0 Big Ten) did not play this week. Its next game is against Minnesota on Nov. 7.