Before this evening, Ohio State QB Cardale Jones was known first and foremost as the guy who infamously tweeted: “we ain’t come to play school, classes are pointless” He was designated the “I don’t play school” guy. After his superlative performance tonight, he’s known as a guy who came to play football.
He didn’t just play football; he dominated. Cardale Jones took way too much undeserved flak for that Tweet. I applaud his honesty. I’m with him on telling it like is (Maybe not the really poor grammar/spelling part of it).
We should applaud athletes for speaking their mind and articulating how hypocritical the system is; instead of the usual standardized boring boiler plate we receive in interviews nearly all the time.
Let’s commend the next guy who says something colorful; instead of ripping him. We have enough vanilla corporatespeak, bromides and platitudes from coaches and players as it is. Let the man emote.
And let the man play college football! Wow! Cardale Jones, through three quarters was 11-15 passing for 253 yards and 3 TDs. No interceptions. Jones was second on the depth chart this fall, but then fell behind J.T. Barrett about two weeks before the season started. Barrett was kind of disastrous in his first couple starts this season, before the rapid learning curve kicked in and he put together a record setting season for the ages. Cardale Jones got on-the-job training in a flash, and he produced versus a Bucky defense that had been lights out as of late. The Badgers came in tonight among the 10 best units in the country in total defense (second, 260.3 yards per game), scoring defense (fourth, 16.8 points per game), rushing defense (eighth, 103.8 yards per game) and passing efficiency defense (eighth, 104.85).
On Saturday night, Cardale Jones shredded them to pieces.
Rumors are Braxton Miller will transfer. It’s a crowded signal caller group in Columbus; something needs to shake-up when you have Barrrett, Jones and Miller all coming back next season.
“This is a very emotional week for me and my teammates, we lost two Heisman trophy candidates in one year,” Cardale Jones.
“This team, this nation, this University, this community, I’m willing to guide them anywhere.”
So are they going to the playoff? You know Florida State, Oregon and Alabama are all in. What about the Buckeyes? They have to compete with TCU and Baylor for that last spot.
“There’s no doubt we’re one of the top four teams in the nation,” said Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net ,which is partners with Fox Sports. Read his feature stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on KOZN 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks). His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2