J.T. Barrett will not be seen on the field against Minnesota, and his scholarship will be taken away for the summer due to an alcohol-related incident.
Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett has experienced great success since becoming the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback, but he has not stayed out of trouble since entering college. Barrett was arrested on Halloween for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. He has been suspended for the Buckeyes’ upcoming game against Minnesota as a result.
His punishment was expanded, as reports state that the redshirt sophomore quarterback will lose his scholarship for the summer semester. This means that Barrett will lose his summer aid. It has not been revealed how he can earn back his scholarship. Meyer promised that Barrett will have the opportunity to gain his scholarship back though.
An Ohio State spokesman said that J.T. Barrett's summer aid is what has been taken away, not his fall or spring tuition.
— Ryan Cooper (@RyanCooperOSU) November 2, 2015
Although Ohio State has managed to defend their national championship with an undefeated record this season, they were relatively uncertain at quarterback with Cardale Jones and Barrett both healthy. Although Jones led the Buckeyes during their playoff run, Barrett set the tone for them during the regular season before going down with a season-ending ankle injury. Meyer initially chose to split reps between the two quarterbacks, but Barrett has since distanced himself as the clear starter.
Fortunately for the Buckeyes, they have already proven that they can maintain quality quarterback depth as they showed during their national title run. Jones came onto the field as an unknown third-string quarterback before leading Ohio State to a blowout win over Wisconsin and playoff wins over the heavily favored Alabama and Oregon.