J.T. Barrett is the right starting quarterback for Ohio State

Update, October 20: Ohio State has named Barrett its starting QB going forward.

Ohio State played arguably its best game of the year on Saturday, a 38-10 drubbing of Penn State. Now the Buckeyes have a familiar problem back on their hands, with the quarterback battle in full swing.

Cardale Jones struggled to start the game, and when J.T. Barrett came in for his new role as red zone quarterback, he looked like the superior player, speeding up the tempo of the offense and improvising his way to two touchdowns in the first half. Given how well he was playing, coach Urban Meyer decided to see what would happen if he let Barrett play everywhere, not just the red zone. The result was pretty impressive.

Barrett finished the game with just four pass attempts, completing all of them with two touchdown throws. More impressive, Barrett had 11 carries for 102 yards. It was enough to once again question whether the Buckeyes should make a permanent switch. Meyer seemed to entertain the change after the game.

“I thought J.T. came in and played great,” coach Urban Meyer said. “He ran for [102] yards, and he obviously gives you that dual threat, and when you’re bogged down a little bit, he did a great job.

“Just let me evaluate it. I’ll let you guys know on Monday, and we’ll go from there.”

Barrett was the assumed starter at the beginning of the year, but in a surprise move, OSU opted to start Jones in its first game. That really didn’t seem to be a bad choice, as Barrett had led the Buckeyes to the Big Ten title game and Jones had wins over Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon en route to a national championship. But Jones has not lived up to the hype even a little bit this season, particularly struggling with interceptions.

Part of Jones’ problems stem from the fact that opponents don’t have to respect the deep ball. Without star receiver Devin Smith, Jones is unable to utilize his best threat -- his powerful arm -- and OSU has subsequently gone from having the most explosive offense in the country in 2014 to 38th in 2015, per IsoPPP.

But what can Barrett bring as a passer that Jones can’t? While Barrett is a fan favorite, it’s worth noting that as a passer, he hasn’t been nearly as good as Jones this season.

Of course, the passing stats don’t tell the whole story. As a runner, Barrett is miles ahead of Jones, who showed his ability to truck Alabama linebackers last year, but hasn’t consistently run the ball well this season.

OSU essentially runs two different offenses with its two different quarterbacks. In Jones, it gets a guy who can burn defenses deep once they’ve been run over by Ezekiel Elliott one too many times. In Barrett, the Buckeyes get a fast-paced offense and a read-based option running game that can carve up opponents.

Jones dominated with last year’s personnel, but could OSU make the switch this season, now that the Jones offense hasn’t materialized through seven games? Land-Grant Holy Land is buying Barrett.

On the day, J.T. went 4-of-4 passing for 30 yards and carried 11 times for 102 yards, plus his touchdowns. Those aren’t world-beating numbers, but they’re a sight more efficient than anything the Buckeyes have mustered outside of the Virginia Tech and Maryland games. Barrett looked, by and large, like the guy that we saw so often last season: unflappable, confident and dangerous. He showed off everything from a killer ability to read defenses in option looks to a jump pass(!).

There’s a chance Barrett won’t take over as the starting quarterback this week. Meyer has reevaluated the situation before and stuck with Jones. But once again, there is an opening. Seven weeks into the season, that’s not what Meyer wanted, and he’s going to want Monday to be the last time he addresses it until 2016.