Trouble in Paradise: Is Ohio State Vulnerable without J.T. Barrett?

The Ohio State Buckeyes have undoubtedly been the best team in college football ever since they won the inaugural college football playoff championship with a third string quarterback. Thanks to the perceptive eye of coach Urban Meyer, the Buckeyes have become one of the most proficient teams on offense (38 points per game, tied for 15th in NCAA) and defense (15.1 points allowed per game, 9th in NCAA). However, no matter how resilient the Buckeyes have proven to be this season, the untimely suspension of breakout quarterback J.T. Barrett has unveiled a chink in the Buckeyes seemingly impervious armor. Although backup quarterback Cardale Jones isn't a push over by any means, his discombobulated statistical woes have been head scratching to say the least.

In his first two games of the season, Jones went from completing 52.6% of his passes against Virginia Tech in game one to completing 66.7% of passes in his second start against Hawaii. While Jones certainly has the size and athleticism of a great overall player, his decision making from game to game has been a frustrating blemish on this quarterbacks otherwise flawless resume. Although Jones has tried to utilize his physicality to bull doze opposing defenses via the rush, it hasn't been nearly as effective for him as it was last season when he was still a relatively unknown third string passer. This lack of versatility and consistency from Jones could allow an underrated Minnesota Gophers team to pull off the ultimate upset on the road.

While Gophers quarterback Mitch Leidner has been an average passing threat at best, he has a dual threat rushing attack that is more than capable of picking up the slack. Although freshman running back Rodney Smith gets the lions share of the carries, freshman Shannon Brooks has proven that there is more than one tenacious youngster on the Gophers rushing squad that can be as equally prolific at busting through merciless Big Ten defenses. Between his eye popping seven yards per rush attempt and his ability to get to the end zone consistently (three rushing TD's in four games), Brooks is the spark that allows the Gophers to remain competitive especially when their passing game inevitably fails to get the offense going.

However, the question remains of whether the Gophers can take advantage of J.T. Barrett's absence and dethrone the Buckeyes while garnering a huge win that would put them one step closer to bowl eligibility. Realistically, the Gophers will still have to be at their best even without Barrett orchestrating this high scoring offense. Even though Cardale Jones hasn't been nearly as productive this season, he is still a superior passer compared to the Gophers current starter. On top of that, the Buckeyes have a formidable rusher in Ezekiel Elliot and a physically sound defense, a nearly unstoppable tandem that has prevented even the most well-coached teams from succeeding. And yet, despite all of these glaring advantages, the Gophers are a pesky albeit stubborn team that may have just enough spunk to hand Ohio State their first loss of the season.