Columbus, Ohio — A comprehensive assessment of Ohio State football is necessary following yet another defeat to Michigan in The Game.
Coach Ryan Day stated that starts right away, and that includes the quarterback position. When questioned multiple times on Sunday about how the quarterbacks would be managed during and after the Cotton Bowl game against Missouri, Day refused to say that Kyle McCord would remain the starting quarterback.
“I don’t think I’m there yet, so I’m not going to really get into all that right now,” Day remarked. “We’ll just have to wait and see how practice goes,”
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In the third game of the season, McCord assumed the starting role on a full-time basis, having begun the season in contention with Devin Brown. In terms of yards per completion and quarterback rating, he was second in the Big Ten. Against Michigan, he threw an expensive interception that resulted in a touchdown early in the game. However, he rebounded well in the second half, giving OSU a chance to drive for the game-winning touchdown.
Day recognized McCord’s major achievements, such as his game-winning drive in the comeback against Notre Dame. Throughout the season, he claimed the first-year starter showed improvement.
Day stated, “I think there was growth there for sure.” Additionally, I believe he is a competent quarterback. Every year, you simply sort of look back on everything and attempt to decide what has to be done next. However, I believe that this year saw a lot of development accomplished.
Ohio State now has four scholarship quarterbacks entering the spring. McCord, incoming freshman Air Noland, current true freshman Lincoln Keinholz, and second-year Devin Brown.
Day emphasized earlier in the season that Brown forced McCord into the start of their rivalry. Towards the end of the season, Kienholz saw limited action as the third-string option. Noland is a five-star, top-30 prospect when he comes.
All were prominent enough as prospects to merit new, unbiased assessments following a season in which both offensive efficiency and explosiveness suffered.
In that vein, when asked explicitly if he thought McCord would start the next season, Day replied he was still open-minded.
Day remarked, “I can’t sit here and tell you I know for sure about any of those things right now, but during bowl practice, everyone’s going to have an opportunity to compete and get after it.” “We’ll choose who should get the reps and proceed from there when it’s time to go play and win the game.
“Well, I don’t really have a good response for that at this time.”
Day did rule out one thing: Ohio State isn’t aggressively looking through the transfer channel for a quarterback. That might be a result of both the roster’s breadth of skill and the lack of a sure thing to come along thus far.
Traditionally, bowl season offers young players a chance to show what they can do in extra workouts and argue for a larger role in the next season. Day is open to that quarterback dynamic even with the current starter.
“There will be multiple opportunities to receive assessments,” Day stated. Early on, we’ll be competitive, competing against one another, and we won’t stop examining it. Whoever provides you the best chance to win the game will ultimately prevail.
