J.T. Barrett Didn't Quite Invoke Woody but Sounded A Little Like Him
You're probably thinking that the mention of Woody Hayes is click-bait. To be honest, I'm not above that kind of cheap tactic, but listening to J.T. Barrett respond to questions about the OSU passing game this week brought Woody to mind. It really did.
Woody famously believed that "three things can happen when you pass, and two of them are bad."
There is debate as to whether he originated that phrase, but there can be no debate that he believed it. Woody turned to the pass as begrudgingly as today's wireless companies hand out unlimited data plans. They do it only under extreme pressure and duress.
That's how Woody was with the forward pass. Consider this: in 1972 in an 11-game schedule OSU's leading receiver was Rich Galbos with 11 receptions. For the season the Buckeyes attempted 121 passes, or 11 a game. In case you don't remember, that was pretty typical for a Woody Hayes offense.
That approach would probably get him fired today, and he wasn't particularly popular for his disdain of the pass in his day, but that's what he believed.
When it came to the forward pass, better safe than sorry.
On Monday reporters were pretty direct with their questions to J. T. Barrett regarding the OSU passing game, or rather lack of it, against Penn State. Barrett channeled his inner Woody with his answer.
"If you see a safety or corner 15 yards off that takes away a deep shot. That makes sense, right? They’re playing really far off of us, so if you want to take a shot, I don’t know how to answer that, because if you watch it they’re playing 10 yards off and want you to throw it underneath, so that’s what I’m going to do as a quarterback. I’m not going to force anything."
Better safe than sorry, just like Woody.
There is no lack of critics, including most of the reporters who were questioning Barrett, who will say that the real problem is with the receivers who are not getting open. That's no swipe at those reporters. The questions are fair and appropriate, but Barrett offered a different opinion.
"I think it’s all about perspective," said Barrett.
"I know you all are not in tune on what we actually see as far as practice or even games and game planning. You don’t know about that, so I think it’s the perspective you have which is probably okay, but I think when you ask questions it’s just that you don’t know, so I just do my best to explain," Barrett said.
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