History Is Too Memorable To Think Buckeyes Won't Need Their Backup Quarterback

Most college football fans know the name Max Duggan and Cardale Jones.

Not many college football fans know the name Chandler Morris.

Morris was named TCU’s starting quarterback prior to the 2022 season. He was injured in the first game. Duggan stepped in and led the Horned Frogs to the national title game and finished second in the Heisman voting.

Similarly, Cardale Jones’ name will be remembered around Ohio State forever, but so will the names of JT Barrett and Braxton Miller. Miller was supposed to lead the 2014 Buckeyes to a national title, but a shoulder injury in fall camp ended his season. Barrett then took over and was doing the same before an ankle injury against Michigan ended his season.

Everybody knows what happened after that, especially the quarterbacks on this year’s Ohio State football team.

Buckeye head coach Ryan Day named Will Howard the starting quarterback over Devin Brown last week, and in so doing, he also told his quarterbacks to keep fighting. Not only is it the nature of the position, but it’s also the nature of history.

“I reminded them again, we all know the story with Cardale and JT and Braxton,” Day said on Thursday. “I also shared with them that Max Duggan was a backup the year he went to the Heisman Trophy. So a big part of being a quarterback is resilience and continuing to work. The minute you face a little bit of an obstacle or resistance along the way, you’ve just got to keep pushing. We all know the stories of some of the great quarterbacks that have worked through different versions of adversity.”

Brown responded to the news with a “really good” practice Thursday morning. It wasn’t a surprise. This is now his third year on campus and second year competing to be the starter. Brown saw first-hand last year that there is a role for the backup. He’s in a better place now than he was a year ago, but there is still work to do.

“Devin has shown the ability to do just about everything we asked him to do,” Day said. “It’s the consistency part and taking care of the football part that he’s just got to make sure that he does a great job of moving forward. If he can do that, then he can play and be a contributor for us.”

The starting job is now settled but the competition to be the backup will continue for a little while longer. Day said Devin Brown was the backup on Thursday but also acknowledged the competition is not entirely finalized. Redshirt freshman Lincoln Kienholz and true freshman Julian Sayin have been competing back and forth as the No. 3 quarterback. They have both had their moments this month.

How close is the competition to be the backup and could it be someone other than Brown?

“Yeah, I’m not a predictor of anything,” quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said. “It’s always about what was done. We evaluate it and then we work off of that. So I’m not going to make any predictions on how it goes forward, but I thought Devin had a really good camp. This was a really close competition.”

The messaging has been loud and clear from the Buckeye coaches. Those who remember their history could be called upon to repeat it. And those who don’t remember their history may not be ready when the opportunity presents itself.

“They’ve got to keep pushing,” Day said of the quarterbacks behind Howard. “We all know that we’re going to need them along the way. We’re going to look to try to get them in the game early in the season when we can.”