COLUMBUS, Ohio – J.T. Barrett’s season may be over, but he has been named the Big Ten’s top quarterback and his coach believes the honors shouldn’t stop there.
“He’s a Heisman candidate too, and he should be invited to New York. If he’s not, then there is something wrong,” coach Urban Meyer bluntly told reporters Monday. “He has Heisman statistics…and he’s a leader of one of the top 5 teams in America, so I hope that that young man is invited to New York, and he should be.”
Finalists are invited to the Heisman Trophy presentation gala, scheduled for December 13 in New York.
Barrett won the Big Ten’s Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year Award and teammate Joey Bosa was named the Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year when the conference released the award winners Monday evening along with its all-conference teams.
Barrett’s Heisman-worthy stats include 3,772 total offensive yards and 45 touchdowns, either passing or rushing since taking the starting quarterback’s job after a season-ending injury to another Heisman candidate, Braxton Miller, days before the first game. The 45 touchdowns breaks the record set by trophy namesake Drew Brees.
Barrett will miss Saturday’s Big Ten championship game and the Buckeyes’ bowl game after suffering a broken ankle in the regular-season finale last week against Michigan.
Bosa, a finalist for the Lombardi Award and the Bednarik Award, leads the Big Ten in sacks, with 13.5, and tackles-for-loss with 20 for minus-114 yards. He is ranked fourth and fifth nationally in those categories. Bosa has also forced a Big Ten-best four fumbles which have directly led to 30 Ohio State points.
Along with Barrett and Bosa, a total of eight Buckeyes were named either first- or second-team all-Big Ten: Cornerback Doran Grant and guard Pat Elflein were each named first-team all-conference.
Four Buckeyes — defensive tackle Michael Bennett, tight end Jeff Heuerman, offensive tackle Taylor Decker, and Joshua Perry — earned second-team honors from either coaches or media.
Eight different Buckeyes picked up honorable mention honors.