Ohio State Football: J.T. Barrett Needs To Run More

The Ohio State football team is very successful. However, they need to increase one aspect of their offense to be even better.

Let’s flash back to 2014, when Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett was the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. He threw for 2,834 and 34 touchdowns, while rushing for 938 yards and 11 more scores.

Before he broke his ankle in the Michigan game, Barrett had already shattered Ohio State and Big Ten records. 2014 was easily his most successful year.

Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. 2015 brought a back and forth quarterback situation that didn’t settle down until too late in the season. By then, it was too late. Barrett wasn’t himself until the Michigan and Notre Dame games, but the Buckeyes were not in the playoffs.

Part of the apprehension in 2015 was that Barrett ran less. Part of it also was protecting his frail ankle as he came back to full speed.

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Barrett carried the ball 171 times during that 2014 season compared to 115 times in 2015. So far this season, Barrett has only ran the ball 22 times, putting him on pace to carry the ball 132 times in a 12 game season.

Think about when the Ohio State offense finally scored against Tulsa, a defense poised to be one of the worst in the country this season. It took until the early part of the third quarter for a Barrett run to make it in the end zone.

Against Bowling Green, things were admittingly easier. Those long touchdown throws still came after running back Mike Weber and Barrett had established the read option as a dominate play in the game.

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So what does this mean for the Ohio State match up with Oklahoma? As the title suggest, Barrett needs the ball in his hands more as a runner and less as a passer. The read option plays alone are the bread and butter of the Buckeyes’ offense.

Why not create a more dynamic two-man approach to the play? A huge part of what made former running back Ezekiel Elliott so successful in his two years as the lead back were that defenses had to account for a running quarterback, giving him more free lanes to burst through.

11 carries per game isn’t enough for Barrett. I’m all for Weber staying as a featured back and he has earned the touches. Fellow running back Curtis Samuel is dangerous as a runner and has already shown he’s the real deal.

But it all starts with Barrett. Against an Oklahoma defense that is far better against the run, Ohio State needs Barrett as a runner to keep defenses from keying in on the running back.

Barrett is also better as a passer once he establishes himself as a runner. It’s not a coincidence that he plays better with a lead and in the red zone when he can legitimately be a threat with both his arms and his legs. It’s also the same approach that has made Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield so successful and made Houston quarterback Greg Ward so successful against this same Oklahoma defense.

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer might have been holding back until this week’s game, but the Tom Herman playbook is still in Columbus. It’s also the same playbook that took down Oklahoma in week one.

Next: Lessons From Tulsa That Will Help Against Oklahoma

For Barrett and the Ohio State offense to be successful, Barrett needs to be more of a true dual threat. Do that, and Oklahoma will be another win for the young Buckeyes.

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