Devin Brown ‘Pumped’ For First Start in Cotton Bowl 

On Christmas Day, the Buckeyes were surprised with a gift from one of their teammates. 

Devin Brown, who’s in line to make his first start at quarterback in the Cotton Bowl, gifted his Ohio State teammates on the field at AT&T Stadium with JBL speakers. 

“It was cool,” Brown said. “I was glad I was able to do something like that with the guys, having the opportunity to be the QB1 again and be able to be in front of the team and do a little thing like that for Christmas.” 

Brown will be the starter for Ohio State going up against No. 9 Missouri on Friday night after Kyle McCord transferred to Syracuse following the end of the regular season. He’ll bring a confidence and swagger different from most football players, and that may be what is key for the Buckeyes. 

Brown’s confidence has been well noted since he stepped foot on Ohio State’s campus. He arrived as a top-50 recruit and was heralded as four or five stars by recruiting outlets as part of the class of 2022, and entering a quarterback competition last spring, he changed his uniform to No. 33 in honor of Sammy Baugh, the first quarterback inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

Brown said his self-confidence is a big reason why he is who he is today. 

“I think it really helps,” Brown said. “I think it drives the confidence, especially just in myself of like, ‘You’re here for a reason. You’ve been training your whole life to go do this thing. Like, let’s go get it.’” 

As for nerves, Brown said there aren’t really any for him. 

Brown said he expects the same pressure to be there on him just as there would be any game of the Cotton Bowl’s magnitude. 

“I’m just so pumped to get out there and finally play,” Brown said. “Even my family has been asking me like, ‘How are you not nervous? Like, are you nervous?’ I had all my family over back when I was in Arizona for the three days that we had, and I’m like, ‘No, I really don’t feel anything.’ I’ve been playing tackle football since I was 7 years old. It’s just in a bigger crowd. That’s really it. It’s the same game.” 

Although he’s in line to make his first start, Brown hasn’t had too much opportunity to display his skills while playing behind McCord. Brown appeared in five games and went 12-for-22 on passing attempts for 197 yards and two touchdowns. 

Brown said the biggest thing head coach Ryan Day and quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis have talked to him about is staying calm. He said there are scheduled meetings in the mornings and film watching in the afternoons that’ve helped him prepare for his first start in the Cotton Bowl. 

Perhaps one of the most important learning moments for Brown came in the game at Purdue in Week 7. He went 1-of-2 for 58 yards and a touchdown, but he also lost a fumble, and Brown said he looks back on that game and believes it changed him for the better. 

“I think it instilled a confidence in me like I’m not just some high school player anymore,” Brown said. “Like, I’m a big-time college football player and I could go out there against big time and big, big level guys and do the things I was doing in high school.” 

Brown said he’s felt like he’s “stacked a great month together” and that “this thing’s been rolling” since McCord opted to transfer out of the program. 

He and McCord had a close relationship, Brown said, and he recalled what his initial shock was like when he found out McCord decided to transfer. 

“I just remember seeing it and just being in shock,” Brown said. “I think I called Tristan (Gebbia) first and was like, ‘Did you see what happened?’ Because we didn’t know until the day it happened. And then my next reaction was like, ‘Alright, it’s my turn to go. What do we got to do to get this thing going and go finish this season right?’” 

Brown said “it’s a little bit different” approaching the Cotton Bowl from a mental perspective, but his preparation routine has remained largely the same. 

When Ohio State kicks off against the Tigers on Friday night, the Buckeyes will see a different quarterback under center, and one who brings a much different aura to him that’s been noticed by his teammates. 

“It’s reassuring to know that I’m doing the right things,” Brown said. “I felt like that was kind of my role when everything happened. If guys were worried about what they were doing, what other guys are doing, I felt like I was able to come in and be that glue and bring everybody back together and go win this game.”