QB Cardale Jones works to fix the incomprehensible as Buckeyes open Big Ten play

COLUMBUS, Ohio _ It seems incomprehensible that Cardale Jones would underthrow a receiver.tmpplchld Ohio State’s junior quarterback stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 250 pounds. He says he can hurl a ball 80 yards. Before the College Football Playoff championship in January, receiver Evan Spencer and safety Tyvis Powell told USA Today they’d witnessed Jones throw 65 yards from one knee.tmpplchld “I was dumbfounded,” Spencer said then.tmpplchld “I was like, ‘This is ridiculous,’ ” Powell said.tmpplchld But after Ohio State coach Urban Meyer dissected last week’s 38-12 home victory over Western Michigan, Meyer said Monday he found at least six underthrown passes, with one attributed to backup J.T. Barrett.tmpplchld As the No. 1 and defending national champion Buckeyes (4-0) open Big Ten play Saturday at Indiana (4-0), Jones knew it would be a point of emphasis in practice this week.tmpplchld “Of course it’s on me. Every underthrown ball the receiver had the guy beat by yards ... it would have been easy layups,” Jones said Saturday. “Coach Meyer said that’s our strength, that’s what helped us get to this point. I’m pretty sure I’ll get back into the film room and in practice we’ll get it fixed.”tmpplchld Meyer said the cause was Jones not properly transferring his weight, but that it would be worked on with quarterbacks coach Tim Beck.tmpplchld “Dragging his back leg ... it’s just the fundamental flaw of not being able to weight transfer and driving the ball,” Meyer said Monday. “He had one of his better days throwing. The underneath, the two-minute drill, some of those were just rocket shots and very aggressive, and fundamentally right on it, some deep balls.”tmpplchld Jones still completed 19-of-33 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns with one interception, that an underthrow. His yardage was a career-high, surpassing his 257-yard performance against Wisconsin in last year’s Big Ten Championship. It was 46 yards shy of his passing production in the three previous games.tmpplchld Jones’ touchdowns went for 38 yards to Michael Thomas and 37 yards to Jalin Marshall. He also hit Curtis Samuel for 40 yards to start a second-quarter field goal drive.tmpplchld But Meyer called at least six underthrows “alarming” and added, “That was a 518-yard day. If you hit those, that’s a big day.”tmpplchld Making the issue more important going forward is that the deep balls keep foes from crowding the line of scrimmage and open running lanes for OSU junior Ezekiel Elliott.tmpplchld “That’s where we want to continue to develop,” offensive coordinator Ed Warinner said Saturday. “With the speed we have and the skill set there, try to make a few plays, with the support players from the secondary it helps Zeke pop out of there a little easier.”tmpplchld On Monday, Meyer also hadn’t forgotten the ball Jones threw into the stands that drew an intentional grounding call to end the first half. OSU had marched from its own 22 to the Western Michigan 15 before that second-down mistake. The penalty came with eight seconds left and brought with it a 10-second runoff.tmpplchld “We were going to take a shot,” Meyer said. “If it’s not there, burn it, kick the field goal and get out of there. Other than that part of the drive, I thought he did very well. The receivers, protection, quarterback, it was right down the field.”tmpplchld Despite the long-ball issues, Jones said he felt more comfortable in the offense and was not looking for a go-to guy to replace Devin Smith, now with the New York Jets.tmpplchld “Definitely not. We have guys who can take the top off the defense,” he said.tmpplchld Against the Broncos, Barrett didn’t get into the game until 6:34 remained. Meyer had made more of a commitment to Jones as his starter before the Western Michigan game. tmpplchld That was despite the fact that after being yanked following his second interception early in the second quarter the previous week against Northern Illinois, Jones briefly changed his Twitter bio. For a while it read, “3rd String QB @ The Ohio State University Oh, Wait 2nd String.”tmpplchld “It was childish, I shouldn’t have done it,” Jones said Saturday.tmpplchld After beating the Broncos, Jones said he didn’t know who would start against the Hoosiers and was taking nothing for granted.tmpplchld “I’m always going to be looking over my shoulder. Who wouldn’t want to be the starting quarterback of The Ohio State University? Pretty sure millions of people want your job,” Jones told a longtime OSU beat writer. “It’s going to bring out the best in me and the offense because it’s competition.”tmpplchld ___tmpplchld (c)2015 Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)tmpplchld Visit the Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio) at www.ohio.comtmpplchld Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.tmpplchld