Ohio State Buckeyes

Meyer: 'Cardale is the starting quarterback' for OSU

Published Sep. 14, 2015 12:27 p.m. ET

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Marcus Hartman

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer removed doubts Monday about who is the No. 1 quarterback on his team when he met with the media in Columbus.

"Cardale (Jones) is the starting quarterback," Meyer said. "I met with him yesterday. J.T. (Barrett) has not beaten him out yet. He's going to continue to have opportunities to do that because J.T. is a very good player, and Cardale has got to perform. Neither played that well Saturday, but a lot of it was due to extenuating circumstances about protection. We just didn't play very well."

Whether that changes as the top-ranked Buckeyes continue their quest to defend the 2014 national championship remains to be seen, but it is the most definitive statement Meyer has made since the quarterback competition kicked off earlier this year.

Barrett became the starter last season and led the Buckeyes to an 11-1 record in the regular season before suffering a season-ending broken ankle.

Jones took over for the postseason and was a key player as Ohio State beat Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon en route to the title.

Meyer said after the season opener against Virginia Tech he had viewed Jones as the incumbent from the beginning of the offseason, and the junior from Cleveland started both a 42-24 win over the Hokies and a 38-0 win against Hawaii last Saturday.

Barrett played in both games, too, but in different situations. The sophomore did not play until the game was well in hand in Blacksburg, but he was inserted in the second quarter while the Buckeye offense sputtered against the Rainbow Warriors. His three drives resulted in a touchdown, a punt and one that ended with the second quarter clock expiring.

Jones completed 12 of 18 passes for 111 yards against Hawaii while Barrett went 8-for-15 in relief work that came both in the second quarter while the game was still in doubt and in the fourth quarter when it was not.

"I think we have two excellent quarterbacks and I expect them to play very well and neither of them played very well," Meyer said Monday. "We've just got to better prepare them to play."

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