Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett cited for OVI, suspended 1 game
By Duncan Smith
The bye week strikes again, as J.T. Barrett of the Ohio State Buckeyes was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated early Saturday morning.
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Ohio State thought they had solved the quarterback situation that had plagued their offense with inconsistency so far this season.
After weeks of up-and-down play from Cardale Jones at the quarterback position, Buckeye head coach Urban Meyer reinstated J.T. Barrett into the starter’s role he had been so phenomenal at a season ago.
That issue may have become a bit more cloudy after the overnight developments on the Ohio State campus.
Early Saturday morning, Barrett attempted to avoid a police checkpoint just north of the campus and was pulled over.
According to ElevenWarriors.com, who broke the story this morning:
"“Barrett, 20, was arrested near High and Tompkins, just north of Campus after police noticed the player attempt to avoid an OVI checkpoint in the area. Per CPD sources, Barrett was cooperative and blew into a breathalyzer, registering slightly over Ohio’s legal limit of 0.08 blood-alcohol concentration.”"
According to Ohio State’s suspension rules, because Barrett is under the age of 21 and a minor, the arrest would count as two positives under the athletic department’s student-athlete drug and alcohol program. Under this program, Barrett should be subject to a two-week suspension from the team.
According to these rules, Ohio State’s athletic direction, Gene Smith would have discretion on whether or not to reinstate Barrett, and he would then be subject to reasonable cause testing going forward while with the football program.
However, Smith has decided to withhold this stiffer punishment because Barrett’s charge was a misdemeanor, and head coach Urban Meyer decided his fate.
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Barrett will be suspended for next week’s game against Minnesota on November 7 but will be able to return for Ohio State’s game at Illinois on November 14, according to ESPN’s Brett McMurphy.
There has been some outcry on the lax nature of this suspension, but this one seems like the punishment fits the crime. Barrett will do his time, so to speak, and will be back at his rightfully earned starting position in two weeks in Champaign, Illinois.