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Underappreciated J.T. Barrett Runs, Throws Ohio State to Big Win at Minnesota

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By @writered21

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While quarterbacks like Marcus Mariota from Oregon and Mississippi State‘s Dak Prescott have garnered most of the conversation among quarterbacks this college football season with regard to the Heisman Trophy, Ohio State‘s J.T. Barrett is leaving experts and fans alike no choice but to take a second glance at one of the nation’s most dangerous quarterbacks.

Barrett, who was on track to be a backup to Braxton Miller before the latter got injured prior to the season, proved his worth to the Buckeyes again on Saturday, rushing for 189 yards and throwing for 200 more as Ohio State notched a solid road win at Minnesota, 31-24. Barrett had an 86-yard touchdown run for the first score of the game, then threw three touchdown passes among his 15 completions on the day.

Gobbling up yards amid a constant driving snow in Minnesota, Barrett averaged 11.1 yards per rush, which is no small feat for a quarterback considering sack yardage counts against his rushing totals. Barrett is elusive enough to gain significant yardage while not taking many direct hits. The efficiency with which Barrett ran the offense was seen in the fact that Ohio State went 9-for-13 on third-down conversions and the offense gained nearly 7.8 yards per play.

Many will point to Ohio State’s lone loss this season, at home to Virginia Tech in Week 2, as both a reason to penalize the Buckeyes (9-1, 6-0 Big 10) enough to keep them out of the four-team national playoff, even if they finish 12-1 as Big 10 champions. But it also has served as a reason to exclude Barrett from the Heisman talk. He wasn’t great that night vs. the Hokies, going just 9-for-29 with three interceptions. Though the loss doesn’t look quite as bad after Virginia Tech earned a 17-16 win at No. 21 Duke.

If people are willing to consider the Buckeyes one of the top four teams at the end of the regular season should Ohio State win out — beating Indiana, Michigan, and either Nebraska or Wisconsin in the Big 10 Championship Game – then by extension there has to be some Heisman love for Barrett, as well.

Today’s performance means Barrett has been responsible for 38 touchdowns on the season (29 passing, nine rushing). With an outside chance to get that number to 50 before a playoff game (and before Heisman voting is completed), there would be no reason to exclude Barrett from the national stage.

Ed Morgans is an ACC Basketball Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @writered21 and add him to your network on Google.

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