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Okay – this may not be the highly educated choice when looking purely at stats, but… “we ain’t come here to do school…” That’s right – my pick for the greatest ever to wear No. 12 in Ohio State history, none other than Cardale Jones.
To be fair, Cardale tweeted the quib about college classes as a youngster. He would however, make things right by not only getting his degree from The Ohio State University, but shunning the NFL and returning to school for his senior year to do so. That gave him points in my mind, but it was a three game stretch at the end of his junior season that secured his place in history.
You all know it well. JT Barrett, a legit Heisman candidate, goes down with a broken leg in the middle of the Michigan game. Enter Cardale Jones. He wasn’t asked to do much in that game. Just get the ball to Zeke and get out of the way.
But it was the final three games that would define his Buckeye legacy. He and the Bucks beat Wisconsin and beat them convincingly 59-0 to even get a sniff from the playoff committee. Yes, Elliott was the workhorse, but let’s not forget how Jones opened up the field by stunning the Badgers with big scoring strikes ending the game with 257 yards and three passing TDs.
12-Gauge would follow that up with what many OSU fans will call one of the most satisfying wins in program history, knocking off No. 1 Alabama and Nick Saban. Jones would throw for 243 and a score, but he also moved the ball with his feet, seemingly running over Tide defenders left and right. Cue the Ducks of Oregon and it was more of the same as Zeke continued to run wild and Cardale did what was asked of him to bring home the eighth national title in school history.
I know it’s a pretty small sample, but those three games, coming off the bench as a third-string QB to win a national championship gives Jones the nod over some other really talented Buckeyes.