Ohio State redshirt senior quarterback J.T. Barrett (16) throws a pass in the second quarter of the 2017 Ohio State- UNLV game on Sep. 23. Ohio State won 54- 21. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Photo Editor
Lost among the quarterback controversy at Ohio State has been the extended success of quarterback J.T. Barrett. The fifth-year senior has posted up statistics that rank him among the program’s greatest in history. Here is a look at records he has broken and records he still has yet to set.
22 – Ohio State records Barrett currently holds. As he prepares for the fifth game in his final season under center for Ohio State, Barrett holds 22 school records for either single-game, season or career statistics, with a chance to add some more to his resume before the end of the season.
Touchdown passes? Barrett with 79 (second is Bobby Hoying with 57). Two-hundred-yard passing games? Barrett with 21, five more than Hoying. Average total offense per game? Barrett at 285 yards (Terrelle Pryor is second at 185.2).
And just two weeks ago against Army, Barrett surpassed future NFL Hall-of-Famer and former Purdue quarterback Drew Brees for career touchdowns responsible for among Big Ten quarterbacks with his 107th touchdown. He has since moved to 30th on the all-time list with 112 touchdowns, and trails only Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield (117) among active quarterbacks.
Ohio State redshirt senior quarterback J.T. Barrett (16) runs the ball in the first quarter of the 2017 OSU- Army game on Sep. 16. OSU won 38-7. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Photo Editor
22 (again) – passing touchdowns until Barrett holds the Big Ten record. Brees’ record for most career passing touchdowns could be within Barrett’s reach this season. In his four seasons at Purdue, Brees completed 90 touchdown passes. With just 22 fewer than Brees, Barrett could set the record if he averages even just three touchdown passes per game over the remaining eight games in the schedule, plus any more he throws during postseason bowl games.
Barrett already leads Ohio State quarterbacks by miles in this area, having thrown 79 over his career, 22 more than Pryor.
201 – passing yards left until Barrett owns the program record. Heading into Saturday’s game against Rutgers, Barrett sits just 201 passing yards away from surpassing Art Schlichter for the most career passing yards at 7,547. He is also just three rushing touchdowns shy of passing Schlichter for the most by an Ohio State quarterback, with the record currently set at 35.
In terms of the Big Ten quarterback records for passing yards, Barrett still has a ways to go and is unlikely to break that record. With 7,347 career passing yards, Barrett would need 4,445 this season to surpass Drew Brees’ record. The Buckeyes’ three-time captain has yet to post a season with more than 3,000 passing yards.
588* – rushing yards left until Barrett holds the record for most rush yards by an Ohio State quarterback. As a dual-threat quarterback, Barrett has provided the Buckeyes with offense not just with his arm, but also with his legs. Over his career, Barrett has piled up 2,639 rushing yards on 534 total attempts. The only quarterback still ahead of Barrett in terms of rushing yards is Braxton Miller, who totalled 3,053 rushing yards in his time spent as a quarterback.
The asterisk by this statistic is just to indicate that Miller rushed for 261 yards his final season in Columbus as an H-back and were not accounted into his total of 3053.
Ohio State redshirt senior J.T. Barrett (16) runs the ball in the second quarter of the 2017 Ohio State- UNLV game on Sep. 23. Ohio State won 54- 21. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Photo Editor
1.3 – passing efficiency shy of setting Ohio State and Big Ten record. Rate statistics and other non-counting numbers are much more challenging to predict than counting stats. Barrett currently owns a career passing efficiency of 149.8, trailing both the Big Ten and Ohio State record holder Joe Germaine, who sits at 151.0 (minimum of 700 attempts).
Over his career, Barrett has only once posted a passer rating of more than 151, and it came in his first season of play. So far this season, he has a rating of 156.8 and has exceeded that 151 mark in all but one of the four games he’s played in so far. It has been an incredibly high passing efficiency mark this season and maintaining this rate could be challenging. But if the three-time captain is able to maintain this rate all season long, he should be able to exceed Germaine.
3 – 300-yard passing games shy of setting the Ohio State record. Following up on another record held by Germaine, Barrett has a total of six games in which he has passed for more than 300 yards. Four of Barrett’s 300-plus passing yard games came in his redshirt freshman season. The only other two 300-yard games have come in the season opener last season against Bowling Green and then again in the opener this season against Indiana.
For a team that has relied heavily on its running game over the past several seasons, Ohio State might not give Barrett the chance to reach that milestone. Though Barrett has half of his 300-plus yard games against conference opponents, two of those three came in his redshirt freshman season when he was far more invested in the passing game. Three more games is hardly a lofty total to reach, but recent history suggests it could be a challenge for Barrett to set the record.
