Ryan Day explains decision to name Kyle McCord Ohio State's starting QB

Ohio State has its starting quarterback, at least for now. Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day announced on Tuesday that Kyle McCord will start for Ohio State in Week 1 against Indiana.

With that said, Devin Brown will see action in Week 1 as Day believes both quarterbacks deserve to play. Day explained his decision to name McCord the starting QB, citing what he saw from him recently in practice.

“I think that Kyle has done a great job over the last two weeks of showing consistency,” Day said. “He’s played very well in practice. But Devin, also, throughout the body of the preseason, has shown that he deserves to play. So expect both of them to play. We have confidence in both of them.”

This is the first time that Ryan Day has had a situation entering a season where he plans to play two quarterbacks. Day sees it as a positive for Ohio State.

“I think that’s significant that we have two guys we feel confident playing in a game. This is something that’s a little unchartered territory for me. But you just go on what you see every day in practice,” Day said. “And I think that Kyle’s consistency the last couple of weeks has allowed him to be the starter. He deserves that. But I also think Devin deserves to play in the game, as well. So how much, all that? That’s still to be determined. But we’ve at least come up with that conclusion here.”

Both McCord and Brown were five-star recruits prior to signing with the Buckeyes. McCord was a five-star prospect in the class of 2021, while Brown was a 2022 signee.

Brown is getting the first shot to replace CJ Stroud, who was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft following an impressive career at Ohio State.

The Buckeyes are 30-point favorites entering the game at Indiana, but Day doesn’t expect a win to come easily. Instead, he believes that McCord, Brown and the entire team will need to come out ready to play to walk away with a win.

“Pleased that we have at least two guys that we feel confident about going to play in this first game. Ultimately we have to go win this game,” Day said. “It’s a road game, it’s a conference game against a very well-coached team. Got a lot of respect for Tom Allen and the way he does things. So this is going to be a real test for our team early on in the season.”