The drumbeat for J.T. Barrett to overtake Cardale Jones as Ohio State's starting quarterback is only getting louder.
But Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer is beating a drum of his own:
Meyer can continue to be coy about a quarterback competition that really hasn't stopped since the preseason began, but the team's offensive success with Barrett is beginning to overwhelm the argument for the bigger, stronger-armed Jones. On Saturday against Penn State, Jones struggled once again in completing 9 of 15 passes for just 84 yards and no touchdowns.
Barrett's presence as a dual threat put the Buckeyes' offense on a greased track, however, in a 38-10 win over the Nittany Lions. Penn State led 3-0 after a quarter, but two Barrett touchdown runs helped open a 21-3 halftime lead. He followed with two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, including a crowd-pleasing jump pass to senior receiver Braxton Miller.
The third-year sophomore completed all four of his passes and rushed 11 times for 102 yards, allowing OSU to pull away after another slow start from Jones.
The question is no longer if Barrett will assume the starting role -- it's now a question of when.
Here are six other things we learned in Week 7 of college football:
2. Chip off the block.Iowa QB C.J. Beathard has Iowa undefeated through seven weeks after a 40-10 romp over Northwestern. Beathard is the grandson of former NFL general manager Bobby Beathard. The younger Beathard has misfired a bit the last three weeks, but with the backing of 294 rushing yards behind him Saturday, he wasn't needed to carry the offense.*
*
3. Corey Coleman is the hottest receiver in college football. When you average three touchdown catches a week over a six-week stretch, you're on fire. And if you're a defense facing the Baylor Bears and Coleman, you're playing with fire. West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen was the latest hopeless headsetter to witness Coleman's Xbox-like season, and called him the best player in college football. That's a mouthful, but Coleman is quickly emerging as this year's Amari Cooper in major college football. Unless you prefer the Big 12's other answer to Cooper -- TCU's Josh Doctson.
4. Celebrations aren't supposed to hurt. Moments after Michigan State's Jalen Watts-Jackson scored on a wild, game-ending play to beat rival Michigan 27-23, he injured his hip during the Spartans' celebration. Impossible? No. Nor is it unprecedented. Last month, Notre Dame defensive back Drue Tranquill tore an ACL while celebrating a pass breakup against Georgia Tech. Georgia's top receiver, Malcolm Mitchell, tore his ACL in 2013 while celebrating with former Bulldogs star Todd Gurley on a touchdown.
5. Leonte Carroo is having a freakishly good season. Rutgers' best player missed two games on a suspension, but he's been unstoppable since returning. He now has nine touchdown catches on only 21 receptions for the season. That's a ridiculous ratio, and Saturday in a 55-52 win over Indiana, he maintained it with three scores on seven grabs -- and he didn't even play in the fourth quarter.
6. Don't sleep on Clemson. The Tigers moved to 6-0 on the year as sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson rang up Boston College's defense for 420 passing yards. Watson hasn't been at his best every week -- he struggled against Notre Dame and threw two picks at Louisville -- but Watson's continued development could stamp Clemson's place at the top of the ACC this year. And perhaps a CFP berth, too.
7. Ole Missed. The Ole Miss Rebels dropped a non-conference game to Memphis on Saturday for their second loss in two weeks, and in so doing, scratched themselves off the list of schools with any chance of a playoff berth. The math says Ole Miss is still in the thick of the SEC West race. But having never won the West since the league split into two divisions in 1992, history says otherwise.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
