Urban Meyer presumably has yet to begin the investigation for the real killer of J.T. Barrett‘s meniscus, but he did have time to provide an update on the Buckeye quarterback’s status ahead of No. 9 Ohio State’s showdown with No. 5 Wisconsin in Saturday’s Big Ten Championship.
And the update is that there is no update, at least not until later in the week.
Urban Meyer says they won't know for sure what J.T. Barrett's status is.
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) November 26, 2017
Barrett was able to play through the injury until the second half of Saturday’s 31-20 win over Michigan. He completed 3-of-8 passes for 30 yards with one touchdown and rushed a team-high 15 times for 67 yards and a touchdown in the win.
If Barrett is not able to play, redshirt freshman Dwayne Haskins will get the nod. Haskins came in for Barrett in relief against Michigan and earned the save, hitting 6-of-7 throws for 94 yards and rushing three times for 24 yards.
Either way, Ohio State’s game plan figures to feature lots of J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber no matter who’s handing them the ball. Dobbins carried 15 times for a game-high 101 yards and a touchdown, and Weber added 12 rushes for 57 yards and a touchdown.
Should Barrett miss the game, that would bring to mind obvious parallels to the 2014 season, when Cardale Jones started for an injured Barrett and led Ohio State to a 59-0 blowout of Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship, spring-boarding a controversial bid to the College Football Playoff and an eventual national championship.
Ohio State and Wisconsin will meet at 8 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.