On Oct. 30, 20-year-old Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. As a result, head coach Urban Meyer decided to suspend him for one game, a decision that has garnered plenty of criticism and debate over the last month.

Personally, I think this decision is absolutely ridiculous. What sort of signals are you sending to your players if a DUI only results in a one-game suspension? Driving under the influence should cause a more severe act of discipline, legally and otherwise, as Barrett could have easily seriously killed or injured someone. In addition, he is under the legal drinking age of 21. Barrett should have at least been suspended for two or three games. I’m a huge Ohio State fan, but Meyer isn’t sending a very strong message about his program by issuing such a wimpy punishment for his starting quarterback.

What this also says about his program is how desperate they are to win. As a top-10 team in all of college football and the 2014 national champion, certainly the pressure and stakes are at unfathomable heights. However, that shouldn’t mean you lose sight of morals because of it. National recognition doesn’t suddenly make you magically immune to the dangerous possibilities of drunk driving.

Simply put, Meyer suspended Barrett for how long he could afford to: one game. The Buckeyes played Minnesota during his absence, a game they dominated even without their starting quarterback. They didn’t need Barrett. However, in the three games following suit, the Buckeyes played their arch-rival Michigan, a long-time conference foe in Illinois, and a top-10 force in Michigan State. All very important, tough games near the end of the season that Ohio State needed all hands on deck for. Not having Barrett for those games could have been detrimental for the Buckeyes. Meyer knew that.

How is this, in any way, right or moral? Meyer, or any other college football coach across the nation for that matter, shouldn’t be creating a culture that allows for your punishment to be tailored to how good your team is, or how hard your upcoming schedule is. It shouldn’t matter. What matters is that these players see that their actions are absolutely not appropriate. They need to learn the right and proper way to act in the world, and that there are consequences for their actions. We can’t have a culture in which athletes are suspended just one game for getting caught drinking underage and driving.

Perhaps even an overhaul of the college football culture is needed. We have to remember that these players are only in their late teens and early twenties. They’re still learning how to behave, which actions are right and which ones aren’t and need to be fixed. A measly one -game suspension for a DUI is unacceptable, and doesn’t actually do much to teach Barrett or other athletes like him any better way to behave. What’s to stop them from doing it again? Besides, college football isn’t supposed to be about winning every game or making money. It’s supposed to be about building better character, getting an education and preparing you for life after college, whether that be in the workforce or the NFL.

Speaking of the NFL, the pro league is now notorious for player suspensions for drug abuse, misbehavior and arrests. Although you could make the argument that the “money has gone to their heads,” it’s so much more than that. If these guys are never taught how to behave in college, then how can they be expected to behave any better once they go pro? We have to remember that it’s all connected. If we want to build a better NFL, we have to start at the bottom: with college football.