Junior defensive lineman Joel Heath sacks Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett during the game against Ohio State on Nov. 8, 2014, at Spartan Stadium. The Spartans were defeated by the Buckeyes, 49-37. Raymond Williams/The State News
—He had been doing it against everyone this year, but "everyone" included a bunch of nobodies.
It’s one thing to post stellar numbers against teams like Kent State, Rutgers and Illinois, but it’s another to do it against the normally stout MSU defense. Ohio State freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett certainly proved on Saturday he play well against anyone.
Behind the arm and legs of Barrett, No. 13 Ohio State (8-1 overall, 5-0 Big Ten) cruised to a 49-37 victory over No. 7 MSU (7-2 overall, 4-1 Big Ten) at Spartan Stadium on Saturday night. Barrett was unstoppable in both aspects of the game, throwing for 300 yards and three touchdowns, and adding 86 yards and two scores on the ground.
“His arm strength was very, very good out there,” head coach Mark Dantonio said. “I thought he was very accurate. You look at he throws for over 300 yards and rushes for 100 more, he played very, very well.”
Dantonio added that OSU’s game plan of using play action to help open the pass game for Barrett worked out very well.
Barrett led three scoring drives to open the second half and push OSU’s lead to 18. Barrett’s most impressive drive came in the fourth quarter, which was sparked by a 55-yard run. MSU had scored to make it a two possession game with just under 10 minutes to go in the game, recreating life in the fans at Spartan Stadium. But Barrett quickly killed any hope, leading a four-play 78 yard drive.
The drive by Barrett capped off a streak of six straight scoring drives for the Buckeyes.
At the beginning of the week senior linebacker Taiwan Jones said he felt Barrett was a better quarterback than the man he replaced under center, two-time Big Ten MVP Braxton Miller, and players and coaches acknowledged his performance after the game.
Defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi said Barrett was spot on all evening and made the the tough throws that were needed to propel his team to victory.
“He’s a great football player, and again he played big in a big game,” Narduzzi said. “He didn’t throw off the mark at all. He put it right there where their guys were able to make the catch. We were there at times but just didn’t make the play.”
An inability to make plays was something that ultimately led to the loss on Saturday, and senior free safety Kurtis Drummond knows it. Following the loss, Drummond said surrendering explosive plays not only to Barrett but to a number of Buckeyes resulted in MSU’s poor defensive outing.
“That’s something we harp on every week throughout camp, explosive plays,” Drummond said. “On offense you need explosive plays and on defense you can’t give them up and we did a bad job tonight on eliminating explosive plays. That’s something we will work on going forward.”
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