The day Ohio State started preparing for the Big Ten Championship Game vs. Wisconsin was also the first day Ohio State had to start preparing to play without J.T. Barrett at quarterback.
As it was for Barrett in August, the next guy has to be ready.
Cardale Jones, you have six days.
"It's his show," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said Sunday. "He's got the keys to the car. He's already been in studying film and getting ready to go."
Barrett suffered a broken ankle in Ohio State's win over Michigan and had surgery Sunday, which Meyer said went well. His status further complicates what was already a crowded quarterback room at Ohio State, but the future can wait. A very good Wisconsin defense will have little sympathy in a game Ohio State needs to win to keep its hopes alive for playing in the first College Football Playoff.
Keeping Ohio State out of the playoff because another quarterback went down -- Barrett is a redshirt freshman who took over after Miller's season-ending shoulder injury in August -- would be "wrong," Meyer said.
Not much comes easy. Wisconsin ranks second nationally in total defense and passing defense.
Barrett set a new Big Ten record with 45 total touchdowns before suffering the injury. Barrett completed 64 percent of his passes for 2,834 yards and 34 touchdowns.
"The difference now is Cardale is going to walk into an experienced huddle," Meyer said of Ohio State's latest quarterback change. "He has five linemen who have played together all year and done pretty well. He's got a 1,000-yard rusher (Ezekiel Elliott) at tailback. When J.T. stepped in there, there was a sophomore tailback that never started a game. There was nothing around J.T. with experience. Now there's a much more veteran group that's one of the top offenses in the country."
Ohio State ranks 11th nationally at 503 yards per game and seventh at 6.86 yards per play.
Jones had never played in anything but mop-up duty before taking over for Barrett in the fourt quarter vs. Michigan. This season, he's appeared in seven games and completed 10 of 17 passes for 118 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Ohio State hasn't listed a fourth quarterback because the coaching staff planned to redshirt freshman Stephen Collier. Meyer said "Plan C" includes wide receiver Jalin Marshall, a high school quarterback who's played some quarterback in Wildcat formations this season, and could include Collier.
But the first plan, which started Sunday, is all about Jones.
