Kirk Herbstreit blasts 'psychotic' Ohio State fans that were critical after Week 1 win

With CJ Stroud off to the NFL, Ohio State rolled out Kyle McCord to start against Indiana but will also play Devin Brown during games to begin the year. McCord saw the bulk of the snaps because of the way the game went, Ryan Day said Tuesday, but fans were left wondering if the offense will take a leap after failing to record a passing touchdown.

To ESPN analyst and former Buckeye Kirk Herbstreit, he doesn’t think the performance was as bad as some think. In fact, he blasted a portion of the fan base who criticized McCord’s showing in his first start of the year.

“There’s a standard and then there’s a psychotic standard,” Herbstreit said on The Pat McAfee Show. “And I would say that the 15% that represent Ohio State on social media fall into that category of psychotic. They’re out of their minds, and what they do is they make high school players not want to play for that program because of they’re just such jackasses. They drive me crazy with everything that they do. Kyle McCord’s trying to learn how to play the position.

“Kyle McCord’s not going to be where CJ Stroud was at the end of his career when he went on to play for the Houston Texans as a top-five pick in the draft. He needs time. So let’s give him that time.”

McCord put up decent numbers in the opener, throwing for 239 yards on 21 of 33 passing. But he didn’t throw for a touchdown as the Buckeyes totaled two rushing touchdowns. The fact that Marvin Harrison Jr. was especially quiet — totaling two receptions for 18 yards while also dealing with an in-game injury — also got people talking.

But Kirk Herbstreit defended Day’s approach with the quarterback, and he expects to see another side of the fan base after Ohio State’s Week 2 game against Youngstown State. He also said the Buckeyes’ true colors will show in Week 4 when they head to Notre Dame for a primetime showdown.

“They opened up on the road against a Big Ten team that’s not bad,” Herbstreit said. “Ryan Day knows what he’s doing. It’s amazing how people — again, the very small percent that’s very vocal — they want to get after Ryan Day, they want to get after Kyle McCord, they want to fire everybody. ‘Fire everybody, get rid of everybody, everybody sucks.’ These guys are very talented players. They just need time to work together. Let the offensive line have some reps, believe it or not, to build some continuity. This kid, Kyle McCord, can rip it. He’s got receivers that can make plays. Just because Marvin Harrison didn’t make any catches in his first game doesn’t mean Kyle McCord sucks.

“So I’m pretty happy with the start, and you’ll see Youngstown State and Western Kentucky, everyone will be now the other extreme. ‘Holy cow, he’s gonna win the Heisman.’ After the next two weeks, he’s gonna win the Heisman. So it’ll all come back down to earth. We’ll find out who they are when they go to South Bend Week 4.”