Quarterbacks get too much credit for wins and too much blame for losses.
Tell that to Ohio State's J.T. Barrett and Michigan's Wilton Speight. Win or lose, it doesn't matter: Credit isn't a term associated with either quarterback as they lead their top-10 teams into Week 3 matchups against Army and Air Force, respectively.
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Ohio State coach Urban Meyer and Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh didn't sound all that different when defending their quarterbacks this week. Meyer cut off the question after Ohio State's 31-16 loss to Oklahoma on Sept. 9.
"No, no," he said. "We've seen him play exceptional, and he will play exceptional (next) week."
"Wilton's the starting quarterback," Harbaugh said Monday (via the Detroit Free Press). "And we're forging on."
That's after Michigan's 36-14 victory against Cincinnati. Barrett is getting too much blame in a loss, and both he and Speight are getting more blame than credit in victories that aren't cosmetic enough in a sport that often judges like a beauty pageant instead of the scoreboard.
There's no reading between the lines with Meyer and Harbaugh, however. Fans and pundits can speculate all they want at this point, but regardless of their credit rating, neither Barrett nor Speight is getting benched anytime soon. At least not until their teams lose or put their respective teams in position to lose a football game.
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Barrett didn't match Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield on Saturday, and there aren't too many quarterbacks who will in 2017. There's no question Barrett needs to play better. The senior's completion percentage is down (55.7) and the big plays were missing against the Sooners. But Ohio State has time to improve into October with a four-game stretch that includes Army, UNLV, Rutgers and Maryland.
Barrett's struggles have been social media cannon fodder; he's working with a third different offensive coordinator in Kevin Wilson and no returning receiver had more than 300 yards in 2016.
Unless Barrett struggles significantly at any point in that four-game stretch where the Buckeyes will be heavily favored, there's no sense in starting anybody else when the back half of the season begins at Nebraska on Oct. 14. You can't throw backup Dwayne Haskins, Joe Burrow or Tate Martell into the fire then as starters, not with showdowns against Penn State and Michigan looming later in the season, but you can use the next rep get those backups, especially Haskins, more reps.
Michigan did bench Speight at one point this season, after he tossed pick-sixes on consecutive throws in the opener against Florida. Speight's replacement John O'Korn, however, did nothing to show he's a better option. It's trendy to pitch Brandon Peters, but who knows better than Harbaugh whether a change is warranted? Best to forge on.
Speight's completion percentage also is down to an alarming rate, but he's also working with a new passing game coordinator in Pep Hamilton and an even greener group of receivers. Grant Perry is top returner from last year, and he had 183 yards and one touchdown. There might not be growth with that group unit midseason at the earliest.
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Here's the other thing to consider: If Meyer or Harbaugh wanted to bench the starter, then they would. Meyer converted Braxton Miller into a receiver and benched Barrett in favor of Cardale Jones in 2015, only to put Barrett in later that season. Jim Harbaugh's most noteworthy coaching move of his career is starting Colin Kaepernick ahead of Alex Smith en route to leading the San Francisco 49ers to Super Bowl XLVII.
Harbaugh preaches meritocracy all the time. Benching a quarterback is one thing, but the impact on the locker room is something that can't be measured on message boards.
That's why it seems unlikely at best that either quarterback will be benched. Neither Meyer nor Harbaugh has opened that door since the regular season started. Ohio State, even with a one loss, is still in the Big Ten East hunt. So is Michigan. So is Penn State, which right now has the steadiest hand at quarterback in Trace McSorley. Michigan has to travel to Penn State, and Ohio State has to travel to Michigan. Are you really going to do that with an inexperienced quarterback?
It's easy to forget that last year, Barrett and Speight were the chief protagonists in a 30-27 double-overtime thriller that was the best regular-season game of the year. Similar stakes will be in play when the Buckeyes and Wolverines meet on Nov. 25 this season, and chances are Speight and Barrett will be under center to decide the outcome.
Maybe by then, credit will be given where credit is due.
