Same old J.T. Barrett

COLUMBUS, Ohio - "I am the same person that people said that they wanted to bench," J.T. Barrett said Wednesday. "I am the same person now that is playing well. Same guy.

In a not so subtle jab to all the doubters of himself as well as the Ohio State football team, Barrett expressed some frustration from earlier in the year in regards to being told he was not good enough to lead the team. Five weeks after the height of those discussions, are Barrett is arguably the hottest quarterback in college football.

Maybe he was fueled by the desire to prove everyone wrong, or maybe he decided to change some things about the way he plays?

According to his teammates, both assumptions are wrong.

"I know it's definitely not teams that can't match up athletically," center Billy Price said. "I think in the Big Ten, especially when we talk about recruiting with SEC vs. Big Ten, ACC vs. Big Ten. Athletes are athletes all the way across the board. So I think that one is definitely out. And two, I think that that's the fun part about knowing J.T. behind the scenes that you guys don't get to see. That man has not changed. That man ... we have complete confidence. That's what I told everybody. We have complete confidence going into every game plan with him being behind me."

Barrett has thrown 21 touchdowns this year, and his lone interception came in the mess that was the loss to Oklahoma in Week 2. He is well on pace to break his previous season's mark for passing touchdowns, and could even challenge his career-best 34 touchdowns from his redshirt freshman season.

Ohio State's offense has been exciting to watch and is firing on all cylinders since Week 2. Quarterbacks coach Ryan Day said the players deserve the credit for the team's performance, and the streak of five wins has not been due to any changes in approach on offense, especially Barrett.

"Every week, he seems to be getting better and more comfortable in the pocket. We've seen it in practice now for weeks growing," Day said. "And I think you've seen it more and more during the games now. The comfort level he's having with some of the progressions and in the pocket. The guys are doing a good job of protecting him up front and the guys on the perimeter are spacing things out well and understanding what we are seeing on a weekly basis."

Even though his teammates and coaches swear there is nothing different from their quarterback, it almost seems as though a proverbial switch has been flipped in the mind of Barrett. While the other members of the offense have been playing at a noticeably higher level, there is one player who has stood above the rest, and he happens to be under or behind the center.

No matter if it's team oriented, Barrett driven or just shear dumb luck, the Ohio State has not looked this good since 2014. Barrett's in-game performances that year ending up leading Ohio State to some decent end-of-the-year hardware when it was all said and done.

He might be the "same guy" as before, but Barrett looks just a little bit better now.