What I Know, What I Think, What I Wonder — Michigan State Edition

I know a lot of Buckeye fans are ready to move on from Devin Brown as the backup quarterback and believe Julian Sayin should be getting his reps in the game, but until Sayin catches up in practice, the true backup quarterback needs as many useful in-game snaps as he can get. The Buckeyes aren’t one snap away from having Julian Sayin as their quarterback, they’re one year away. Next year is much less important than this year. Preparing Sayin for next year is ignoring the reality of what is going on right now. Devin Brown is one snap away from being Ohio State’s quarterback and that is how Ryan Day and Chip Kelly will continue to operate until Sayin makes the necessary moves in practice.

I think it’s also unlikely for Devin Brown to lose the backup job in practice because he needs to be ready to execute the game plan and he needs to have the reps that prepare him to do so. Worry about next year when this year is over. If Julian Sayin is as good as everybody believes, then he should be able to pick things up as quickly next year as the possible starter as he’s done as a true freshman depth piece. It’s not about who best sets OSU up for next year. It’s about who sets OSU up for the very next snap.

I wonder if Matthew Sluka would take $100,000 to be fourth string next year, provided he could be more than a 44% passer and also get it in writing that he promises to keep Bear Alexander far away from the Ohio State football program. I also wonder if the Buckeyes will even have four quarterbacks next season.

I know that Michigan State is leading the Big Ten in sacks by a wide margin, and it’s not because they’ve played a soft non-conference schedule. They’ve already been on the road at Maryland and Boston College, and the defense has been good enough to win both of those games.

I think this game will continue to tell us more about Will Howard’s poise inside and outside of the pocket. That’s been one of his strengths at Kansas State, but that’s just the start. The fundamentals need to extend until the end of the play.

I wonder if the defense is ready to chase Aidan Chiles for four full quarters. He’s going to run around, try to escape, provide opportunities for big losses, but also always have the potential for a big play. A lot of things have to go perfectly for those big plays to happen, but the potential is always there with Chiles and these receivers.

To read the rest of this edition of What I Know, What I Think, What I Wonder, you can click here, but you’ll need to be a premium subscriber. Additional topics this week include much more on the backup quarterback situation, Will Howard’s Big ten debut and the defensive pressure he is about to face, the quarterback run as part of the offense, the dangerous game of chicken OSU has been playing with their quarterbacks over the years, the running game, and much more.