Ohio State Quarterbacks Are Historically The Focus Of The Ohio State Spring Game

The Ohio State Spring Game on April 12th is rapidly approaching and I always look forward to an opportunity to see any and all of the freshmen who have enrolled, as well as players who have joined the program via the transfer portal. As I write this, the weather forecast for the game looks like the temperature will be in the mid-50s, so it should make for a terrific way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

The battle for the starting quarterback position between Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz has been characterized as “neck and neck” by Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, and it will not surprise me in the least if Coach Day announces after the spring game that nothing has changed. Both Sayin and Kienholz will want to use the summer workouts and fall camp practice performances to be heavily involved in whatever the final decision is on who will be starting against Texas on August 30th.

Even though I believe that no decision will be made on who the starting quarterback will be after the Ohio State spring game, I am confident that the fan base in attendance, as well as those watching the game on The Big Ten Network, will be quick to offer their unsolicited two cents on social media after the game’s conclusion. It would not be the first time that Ohio State fans would heavily scrutinize a spring game performance by the Ohio State quarterbacks.

In 1996, I recall going to the Ohio State spring game, anxious to see how Stanley Jackson and Mark Garcia would perform in their quest to replace Bob Hoying as the starting Ohio State quarterback, only for both of those players to be upstaged by a then-relatively unknown backup quarterback on the roster by the name of Joe Germaine. Germaine’s performance in the game completely turned the discussion away from Garcia, with the result of Jackson and Germaine essentially sharing the position throughout the 1996 and 1997 seasons.

One of the most enjoyable Ohio State spring games involving quarterbacks was in 2003 between Justin Zwick and Troy Smith. Craig Krenzel was the established starter, with Scott McMullen as the top backup, but Zwick and Smith were given abundant opportunities to air it out on a sunny day in their race to determine who would become the starting quarterback for the 2004 season. This was also the legendary spring game performance of Bam Childress, which should serve as a historical cautionary tale for Ohio State fans to not read too much about standout accomplishments in a spring game.

Perhaps the most noteworthy Ohio State quarterback battle over the last ten years involved the late Dwayne Haskins and Joe Burrow in 2018. While Haskins and Burrow were seemingly deadlocked after the spring game, Burrow realized that the likelihood of winning the starting quarterback position versus Haskins in fall camp was unlikely, and Burrow decided after the spring to announce his decision to transfer to LSU. In hindsight, nobody can begrudge Burrow’s decision, as it turned out best for him and for LSU, but it is this type of decision that the Ohio State coaching staff is certainly hoping to avoid repeating by either Julian Sayin or Lincoln Kienholz.

Will the Ohio State spring game give the Ohio State coaching staff a definitive answer on who the starting quarterback will be? Probably not, but it is certainly going to be a portion of the evaluation process, as it has usually been over the years with other Ohio State spring games and other Ohio State quarterbacks.