Urban Meyer Praises J.T. Barrett After Win at Penn State

Ohio State Buckeyes head football coach Urban Meyer was all praises for his quarterback, J.T. Barrett, after the Buckeyes’ 31-24 double-overtime win over the Penn State Nittany Lions on Oct. 25.

Ohio State Buckeyes head football coach Urban Meyer is all praises for his quarterback, J.T. Barrett. 

Meyer gave props to Barrett for his toughness after he willed his way into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown in double overtime against the Penn State Nittany Lions on Oct. 25, per Tim /4/of The Columbus Dispatch: 

“The legend of J.T. Barrett grew in the mind of Ohio State coach Urvan Meyer after the way the quarterback played, despite suffering a knee sprain, in the win at Penn State on Saturday night, especially in the two overtimes. 

“‘He is one of the toughest cats I’ve ever been around,’ Meyer said today. ‘To say I knew that (about him) — I didn’t know that. How many guys could have done that?

“‘He went in and won the game…He got hit on the 3-yard line (in the second overtime) and bulled his way in against that Penn State defense to win that game.’

“Meyer said Barrett, who scored both OSU touchdowns in the overtimes, will have time to rest the knee this week. Meyer fully expects him to play on Saturday night when the No. 13 Buckeyes (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten) host Illinois (4-4, 1-3) in the second of three straight primetime games.

“As Meyer pointed out, there’s plenty for the Buckeyes to improve upon coming out of the Penn State game, in which they blew a 17-0 lead. But he also was leaning on the positives of how such an experience can boost his team in the way it found a way to rally in what he calls one of the ‘top three’ home-field environments in college football.

“‘I’ll probably never forget that look of seeing our offense taking the field against (the backdrop of) that student section in overtime against the top scoring defense in the country,’ Meyer said. 

“To gain such a victory, ‘It’s not a good thing, it’s a great thing,’ Meyer said. ‘We had to (buck) up. We were down by seven points (in overtime) in that environment…It was a great win for the Buckeyes, and we’re looking forward to coming back home to continue our journey.’

“Barrett supplied the two TDs on Saturday night. Then defensive end Joey Bosa delivered the final blow with a sack of Christian Hackenberg on fourth-and-five from the 20-yard line. 

“For his efforts, Bosa was named the Big Ten defensive player of the week.”

Proud to see Jack Mewhort, Corey Linsley & Andrew Norwell all starting OL in the NFL as rookies! pic.twitter.com/3IXJCvdivm— Urban Meyer (@OSUCoachMeyer) October 27, 2014

ESPN Ohio State Buckeyes reporter Austin Ward points out Barrett should suit up for the Nov. 1 home game against the Illinois Fighting Illini despite his MCL injury:

“A sprained knee couldn’t keep J.T. Barrett out of the lineup or the end zone on Saturday, and it won’t prevent the Ohio State quarterback from playing again this week, either.

“Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer plans to limit the practice reps for the redshirt freshman ahead of the week’s prime-time game against Illinois, but Barrett’s MCL injury isn’t believed to be serious. And Meyer might not even tell Barrett that his snaps during the week are being monitored. 

“‘He’s got a sprained knee, MCL, but obviously there’s no surgery or anything,’ Meyer said during his Monday news conference. ‘I think he will be limited.

“‘We’re going to see how it goes. He’s probably going to be a guy that we won’t tell him he’s limited, but we’ll make sure he’s limited. It’s not the throwing that’s a concern, it’s the running.’

“Barrett had one of his roughest passing performances of his breakout season in a double-overtime win over Penn State on Saturday, but his legs actually looked just fine down the stretch. Despite dealing with the sprain throughout the second half and into the deciding drives after regulation, Barrett rushed for 32 yards on four carries and both touchdowns for the Buckeyes in the overtime periods.”

The Buckeyes currently sport a 6-1 win-loss record and are ranked 13th in the AP Top 25 for Week 10 of the 2014 NCAA season. 

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