COLUMBUS – Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett had arthroscopic knee surgery on Sunday but is expected to play in Saturday’s Big Ten championship game against Wisconsin, the Columbus Dispatch reported on Thursday.
OSU beat writer Tim May said the surgery was confirmed by unnamed sources. WBNS-TV also said it had confirmed Barrett had surgery.
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer did not mention Barrett having surgery on his weekly radio show on Thursday, but did say, “He’s been cleared to play. He’s going to play in the game.”
According to The Dispatch, the surgery was to remove a loose piece of cartilage in Barrett’s right knee.
Notes:
Big Ten awards: Ohio State sophomore defensive end Nick Bosa was named the Big Ten’s Defensive Lineman of the Year on Thursday, one of three Buckeyes to get special awards from the Big Ten.
Billy Price was named Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year and Barrett was Quarterback of the Year for a record-setting third year in a row.
Ohio State players have won the Defensive Lineman of the Year award four years in a row. Joey Bosa won in 2014 and 2015 and Tyquan Lewis won last season. This is the third straight year an OSU player has been Offensive Lineman of the Year. Taylor Decker won in 2015 and Pat Elflein won last year.
Coaches Staying: Two Ohio State assistants were contacted about open head coaching jobs and another assistant turned down a coordinator’s job, Meyer said on his radio show.
“I don’t want to have those conversations now because we expect laser focus,” Meyer said. “There were a couple of opportunities. Two, in particular, turned it down and said, ‘I’m ready, let’s go beat Wisconsin.’
“There are two types of coaches – ones they want and ones they don’t want. We’ve got a lot of ‘wants.’ As long as that’s happening that means I’ve hired the right people,” he said.
Letdown after Penn State?: Ohio State assistant coach Kerry Coombs alluded to an emotional letdown in a 55-24 loss at Iowa a week after an unreal fourth quarter comeback to beat Penn State on Meyer’s weekly radio show.
“It’s something we probably didn’t handle very well the last time we had an emotional victory,” Coombs said in response to a question about playing another big game a week after beating Michigan.
“I think Coach (Meyer) is great about getting a laser focus. We’ll enjoy last week’s game in the offseason. I don’t think we lack emotion or focus or any of those things.”
One more from Coombs: Talking about the recent birth of his fifth grandchild, Coombs said, “We’ve had two this fall. We just found out we’ve got a sixth on the way. My kids are a fertile bunch. They (grandchildren) are coming fast and furious. We’ll have six under five years old.”
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