Ryan Day Names Starting Quarterback, Previews Season Opener At Indiana

COLUMBUS — Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with reporters on Tuesday for his weekly media session to preview the Buckeyes’ upcoming opponent. He has named a starting quarterback for the Buckeyes, and answered a wide array of questions surrounding his decision. He also discussed other position battles, and much more. The highlights of everything that was said can be found below.

Kyle McCord will be the starter for the Indiana game. Devin Brown will play. Kyle McCord has played well the last two weeks. They have confidence in both of them. It’s significant that they have confidence in two guys to play. McCord deserves the start. How much Devin Brown plays remains to be seen, but they want to get him out there.
This is uncharted territory for Day having two quarterbacks. You have to go and watch and see how they play in games. Practice is one thing, but you want to see how they finish drives in the red zone. He told them both today that the goal is to win championships this year. Don’t ride the rollercoaster. Make each other better. They’ll go into each game with a plan and then evaluate it after that. “That’s all we can do.”
Day told both guys that they don’t need to be worried about being benched. They need to go and play. Lead the team.
He liked the response that Kyle McCord had the last two weeks when being pushed by a younger guy. That was the kind of response he wanted to see.
There have been plenty of teams that won a national championship having multiple quarterbacks playing that season. It’s a good thing to have more than one quarterback you trust.
The receivers and offensive line have gotten into a rhythm with both guys. If he hadn’t seen that throughout camp, he would have stepped in. But the offense likes both guys and they follow both guys.
How do you play both and allow Kyle McCord to get into a rhythm? “That’s probably the biggest challenge.” You have to go play and have a plan to win the game. There will be a feel to when to make the switch during the game.
They’ll see how this week of practice goes before they make a plan on how to play Devin Brown.
Kyle McCord won with his consistency. They want the QB to make the routine plays routinely and don’t turn the ball over. And get the ball in the end zone. That’s what McCord has done.
Indiana is very well coached. “We have to do a great job adjusting to some of the changes they’ve made on both sides of the ball.” Will also have to handle the road environment to open the season.
There will be criticism that comes with the quarterback job. Everybody knows it. But there is more opportunity than anything.
Have the big plays been fixed defensively from last year? It was well-documented last year. It stuck out like a sore thumb. They spent a lot of time on that this offseason. “We know that that’s something that hurt us last year. That cost us.” They won’t know until they get into the game. That’s the test. “You find out what your preparation was like.”
Kyle McCord’s gap was “enough to be named a starter.” It’s not a sizable gap, but it was enough to get the job.
On the QBs: “This isn’t about one play or one drive. This is about the entire season.”
Jayden Fielding will handle the kicking duties. Overall consistency in practice won him the job. “We go off of the chart.” They chart everything. He will handle field goals and kickoffs.
Indiana has 23 transfers. OSU has Billy Homer who does the portal evaluations and breakdowns for the coaches. You have to have contingency plans. That’s part of the difficulty of opening with a conference opponent with changes. Indiana also has some difficulties in figuring out OSU’s unknowns.
Kyle McCord has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. He’s been around. He’s seen CJ Stroud do it and go through it. It helps with the anticipation, as opposed to reacting to everything coming at you.
Justin Frye has done an excellent job with the offensive line.
Has Day learned anything about Kyle McCord that he didn’t know when he recruited him? They’ll learn more and more once he’s starting, but he does a great job of making connections in the locker room. He’s a hard worker. He’s always watching film.
Day is comfortable with 5 or 6 receivers playing right now. Two or three guys at tight end. “Whole bunch of guys at running back.”
Having veteran skill coming back is critical for a new quarterback. “You’ve got to paint a really good picture.” The QB needs everyone on point in the red zone and on third downs.
On the new clock rule not stopping on first downs, this past week offenses had about 63 plays, which is a significant drop from last year.
Day had daily conversations with the QBs. Never drew lines in the sand, but there were ebbs and flows. They made it clear with the QBs that there were times when both guys had pulled ahead, but it’s been Kyle the last two weeks or so.
When is a head coach most nervous when you have a new starting QB? “It doesn’t help, that’s for sure.” But you go off what you see in practice. They have a TEAM that has played football before, so that helps. Two years ago at Minnesota, they had a ton of unknowns. Now, they are more veteran around the quarterback.
There has to be urgency at the quarterback position. “Patience” isn’t the right word. They have to beat Indiana. “We’re not going to bench somebody because they had a bad play.”
How did they come to the conclusion to only have Keenan Bailey and Corey Dennis in the box during games? For the substitutional situations, they wanted everybody else on the field. They feel like they’ll get enough information from those guys in the booth, plus OL GA Mike Sollene. “I think it’s important to be around your players.” If they feel like they’re not getting enough information from above, they’ll make a change.
TreVeyon Henderson had had a great camp. Miyan Williams has played well. Chip Trayanum was the third back Day mentioned, followed by Dallan Hayden. They hope to get Evan Pryor out there as well.
Both quarterbacks met with Ryan Day together today and Day told them that McCord was the starter. Both QBs agreed that McCord won the job and that the competition was fair.
Day would like to get Devin Brown into the game when the game is still undecided. Meaningful reps. Run the plays that they’d normally run.
Carson Hinzman is the center. They’ve seen it on the field in practice from him for a while now. There will be butterflies early on.
True freshmen who will play? He’ll forget some, but Arvell Reese on special teams, Malik Hartford on defense, Carnell Tate on offense, and Luke Montgomery will get into the game.
The offensive line could become a strength for the team. Most of the guys have played a significant amount of snaps.
On Indiana: “We know we’re gonna get their best shot early on.”
Malik Hartford was a recruit who flashed on film and was physical. Fast and violent. When he got here, they learned there was a lot more to him. He’s mature. He has instincts. He came in at 169. Day bet Knowles that Hartford would be at 190 or better when they started camp. He got there at 192. Day won.