Urban Meyer had seen plenty of quarterback injuries during his coaching career. But what happened in Ohio Stadium in November 2014 left him with a problem that had nothing to do with a playbook. Michigan was still fighting. The Buckeyes had a 28-21 lead. Their starting QB was playing like a Heisman candidate. Then J.T. Barrett went down.

What happened next? It changed Ohio State’s season and eventually changed the course of college football history. More than a decade later, Meyer has offered a remarkably candid look at what was running through his mind when he suddenly had to trust an inexperienced Cardale Jones.

“Was watching something else, looking at my play sheet, and they said, J.T’s down,” Meyer said on the Sidepiece show on August 20. “Everybody knew if J.T. Barrett was on the ground, something was seriously wrong. All of a sudden, our strength coach runs out there. That means he broke his leg. I remember holding JT’s hand and looking at him, and he’s in tears. I’m thinking, we have one QB left on the team, and that guy is Cardale Jones.”

At that moment, there was no reason to think otherwise. Cardale Jones had barely played. Barrett had started all 12 games, led the Buckeyes to an 11-1 record, and emerged as one of the nation’s most productive QBs. Jones had entered the Michigan game with only 19 career pass attempts.

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“This is the rivalry game, fourth quarter, and we’re up by, I think, five, and it’s so cold,” Meyer said. “I grab him, and I look, and he’s sweating. And I start yelling at him, ‘You can do this, Cardale. Hey, you can do this.’ I give him the play and tap him on the butt, and he runs out there. And I’m thinking, ‘There’s no way in hell he can do this.'”

Barrett’s injury was as serious as the sideline thought. Barrett had gone 13 of 21 passes for 176 yards. He also had a touchdown while rushing for two more scores. Ohio State was ahead, but Michigan had kept the game competitive. And Jones looked terrified. Thankfully, the QB didn’t have to be the savior against Michigan.

The Buckeyes leaned heavily on their defense and running game. Jones completed a pass for 9 yards and carried the ball three times for 25 yards. Ohio State ultimately won 42-28, but the defense and Ezekiel Elliott supplied the decisive moments. Despite playing a limited role in that game, though, the Michigan game gave Jones a chance.

The Wisconsin game became the first real evidence. Jones threw for 257 yards and three touchdowns as Ohio State crushed the Badgers 59-0 to win the Big Ten championship. Then came the part Meyer could never have predicted.

Jones did not merely keep the season alive. He became the quarterback who finished it. The rest is, of course, history.