Man, rewatching Ohio State’s 2015 QB tape feels like digging through an old treasure chest today. Pulled out my laptop around 7 PM after microwave pizza, clicked that old video file, and dove straight into it. Had to squint at those glitched pixels – damn upload compression never does big plays justice.
Starting the Tape Dig
Scrolled through the timeline like crazy first. Fast-forwarded past warmups and coin tosses just hunting for Barrett and Jones slinging rockets. Remembered Jones’ cannon arm against Wisconsin immediately – that highlight ain’t ever fading. Clicked right to the Big Ten Championship timestamp.
Finding the Juice
Saw Cardale Jones under center – dude looked massive on screen. Rewound the tape three times just to see him freeze linebackers with those play-action fakes. Broke down three key throws:
- Deep crosser to Devin Smith: Ball floated like a damn dart into triple coverage. Hands still got sweaty watching Smith track it.
- Third-and-12 scramble drill: Jones bulldozed two tacklers like grocery bags. Sound off my damn chair when he stretched for the sticks.
- Squeeze throw to Thomas: Threaded it between linebackers’ earholes. Couldn’t even see the window live – camera angle blocked half the view!
Shifted to J.T. Barrett’s snaps against Penn State later. Kid moved like greased lightning on those zone reads. Rewound that 20-yard keeper touchdown four times straight. Camera barely caught his shoe flying off mid-sprint – still cracks me up.
Hitting Replay Jail
God, that fourth quarter against Alabama dragged me into replay hell. Spent 45 minutes frozen on Ezekiel Elliott’s 85-yard house call, dissecting how Jones’ dummy handoff fooled every linebacker. Zoomed in till the pixels bled trying to see safeties biting. Keyboard crumbs got everywhere.
Wrapping It Raw
When the Oregon tape finally ended near midnight, my neck hurt from leaning in too close. Whole damn season felt stuffed into four hours of grainy footage. Barrett’s poise, Jones’ raw power – never seen two QBs swap roles that clean mid-season. Still can’t believe they trucked Bama then smoked Oregon back-to-back.
Eyes burned closing the laptop. Football just hits different when you ain’t skipping ads.
