Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

We don't know he's Wilson's pick he's playing who he's told.Last year was not High School Burrow went 22-28 vs the same cup cakes Barrett fattened his stats against.Actually leading receivers and throwing into tight windows and stretching the field.That opens things up keeping a defense honest.Cardale Jones never sniffed a snap until Urban ran out of options.How did that work out ?

In 2015, with no deep threat, the cardale experiment didn't work out well at all. It was great when Urban was forced to go to a Pro- style offense, and Use Zeke to bring the safeties up, and Smith to get deep.  But once everybody knew that plan, Barrett was clearly the better choice. 

2015 they had plenty of deep threats.Corey Smith/Noah Brown/Jalen Marshall last but not least Michael Thomas(who led all NFL rookie receivers in receptions and ydg last year)Problem was Cardale's play had regressed - just like JT's has since 2014.Dinking & dunking vs over matched opponents doesn't work vs the Big Boys

Agree about the dinking and dunking  and dunking.   That has nothing to do with Barrett.  

It most certainly does he's not going deep.Not with any degree of  authority when he does.Like when Noah Brown has to pick a ball off the DB's back.And JT did not beat Michigan last year the defense and Wilton Speight did.The point stands whether it's arm strength or confidence he hasn't been good in tight games vs top opponents.However I'm looking forward to a face full of humble pie if he can serve it up

The facts say otherwise, for a guy with an amazingly good record against ranked opponents- who is the highest rated QB in the conference, one of the top in the nation, and the greatest TD maker in the history of Big Ten football.  But you go ahead with your beliefs-  as funny as they are.
I suppose if he puts up 35 Saturday, but the Lions put up 38- you will blame him because the facts won't get in the way of your narrative.  

I've been watching this running debate between RD and HB with interest.  I think I fall somewhere between the two of them.  

Just how good is Ohio State's offense?  
With the exception of the Oklahoma game, the Buckeyes have scored more points against each of their opponents than those opponents have given up in any of their games:

• 49 against Indiana:  45 to PSU, 27 to M (20 in regulation), 17 to MSU, UVA, and GASO, 0 to CHSO.  
• 38 against Army:  28 to Temple, 27 to EMU, 21 to UTEP and Tulane, 17 to Buffalo, 12 to Rice, 6 to Fordham
• 54 against UNLV:  52 to USU, 43 to Howard, 41 to SDSU, 34 to Air Force, 16 to Idaho, 13 to SJSU
• 56 against Rutgers:  30 to Washington, 27 to Nebraska, 24 to Illinois, 16 to EMU, 12 to Purdue, 0 to Morgan
• 62 against Maryland:  41 to Texas, 38 to UW and UCF, 37 to NU, 24 to MN, 17 to Towson
• 56 against Nebraska:  42 to Oregon, 38 to UW, 36 to ArkSt, 21 to NIU, 17 to RU, 6 to ILL

I brought up comparative performances because obviously a good deal of Ohio State's recent offensive performance has been helped by playing weak opposition.  Using comparative performances negates that issue and suggests that Ohio State's offense is very good and that the Oklahoma game was simply a bad day.  Bad days happen.  Upsets happen.  The best team doesn't always win.  

That is one way to look at it and, I think, strongly supports HB's argument that this is a very good offense.  

It would be easy to look at the offense other than against Oklahoma and just assume that the OU disaster was a fluke but I'm not ready to do that because I haven't seen Ohio State's offense look good against a competent defense in a long time.  
Against OU:

• 19/35 passing for 183 yards (9.6 per completion, 5.2 per attempt), 0TD, 1INT
• 34 rushes for 167 yards (4.9 per), 1 TD.  Dobbins (13 for 72) and Weber (3 for 29) averaged 5.5 and 9.7 per carry which is great but the problem was that they combined for only 16 carries while Barrett got 18.  Barrett's carries were much less effective gaining only 66 yards on his 18 carries (3.7 per)

Against Clemson:

• 19 of 33 passing for 127 yards (6.7 per completion, 3.8 per attempt), 0TD, 2INT
• 23 rushes for 88 yards (3.8 per), 0TD.  Like the Oklahoma game, the RB's actually did ok.  Samuel had 6 carries for 67 yards and Weber had 5 for 24.  Samuel's 64 yard scamper accounts for about 3/4 of the yardage but the bigger issue is that Barrett got as many carries (11) as the two RB's combined and had negative yardage.  

Against Michigan:

• 15/32 passing for 124 yards (8.3 per completion, 3.9 per attempt), 0TD, 1INT
• 50 rushes for 206 yards (4.1 per), 3TD.  Once again, Barrett got the bulk of the carries (30 of 50).  

Against Michigan State:

• 10 of 22 passing for 86 yards (8.6 per completion, 3.9 per attempt), 1TD, 0INT
• 45 rushes for 224 yards (5.0 per), 1TD.  Once again, Barrett got the bulk of the carries (24 of 45) despite the presence of a RB who was doing better (Weber had 14 carries for 111 yards

Ordinarily an offense that is one of the best against bad defenses will also be one of the best against good defenses.  However, that is not always the case.  Some offenses are REALLY good at beating the tar out of bad defenses without being correspondingly good against good defenses.  That is what I am worried about.  Maybe Ohio State is simply REALLY good at embarrassing bad defenses.  It has been a long time since we have seen Ohio State's offense look good against a good defense and I'm not going to assume it will happen.  I'll believe it when I see it.  

Stop it RD or you'll have to answer to HB.Barrett has lost his mojo and I really hope I eat crow but it's maddening.We've seen him mop the floor vs competition he should but shrinks on the big stage.Joe Burrow went 22-28 in 2016 vs same players and lead receivers and in tight windows.Burrow  threw for 11,400 yds in HS.I really,really hope the 2014 JTB shows up.The Coordinator/lineman/Receivers have turned over just Urbs & JT left to answer - hope they show up big

So that this point, we can agree the point is academic. If there was to be a change, it would have had to happen several games ago. Throwing out a first-time starter against PSU's defense is not a smart idea in 99 percent of spots (Cardale is the other percent).

When push comes to shove, chances are Burrow or Haskins will not be as good a college football player as JT was, just because JT was really, really good. If those guys are that good and ace passers, they'll win titles, as OSU's surrounding talent shows no sign of falling. And we probably won't be looking back after the titles and lamenting that one title that didn't happen. It's also interesting the pattern. Braxton was up and coming, but people tired of his passing (same as Pryor). JT set the world on fire, then Cardale. But then we got used to Jones, and he was persona non grata. They clamored for JT, got him, and now tire of him as well. Perhaps it's a weird pattern. Perhaps QBs start promising and regress. Or perhaps it's part of the human condition, we see the good early when there's promise early, then harp on the bad when it doesn't change and gets more damming in our eyes.

The best argument against is that Urban lost the most talented player he ever coached in part because he stuck with one of the best players the sport has ever seen. It's a weird one to thing about.

(And this HS stats stuff, it seems silly. Kid played small-school ball. Looking at the numbers, I'm not sure he played in a division with schools larger than 700 or 800 kids, and that's generous. JT is the top career passer in OSU history and if healthy/playing, the top 10 is within reach. HS numbers, that stuff)

Also the NFL with their 1 yard rule is quickly adopting RPO's too.  Many (most?) RPO's are pretty quick slants on the pass option so it doesn't matter a ton what the rule is.

Also the NFL with their 1 yard rule is quickly adopting RPO's too.  Many (most?) RPO's are pretty quick slants on the pass option so it doesn't matter a ton what the rule is.

I definitely agree as far as the NFL goes.  Defense are too fast for the longer developing option routes.  College seems to still miss the call plenty.