Ryan Day identifies determining factors of quarterback battle

Ryan Day identified the determining factors of a fascinating quarterback competition at Ohio State.

Kyle McCord and Devin Brown are the likely two guys at the top of the race. But don’t forget about Oregon State transfer Tristan Gebbia and freshman Lincoln Kienholz.

Day broke it all down on Always College Football with Greg McElroy.

“The good news is we have four guys in our quarterback room, we have not had that,” Day said. “So the depth there has been great. You know here recently, like you said Devin is now full strength. We have Lincoln, who just came in this summer. We have Tristan who joined us in January. And then obviously Kyle has been here now for a few years. 

“And you don’t know as a quarterback what you’re getting because it’s so hard to simulate the game as much as we try. Guys are not getting hit … You got to stay off the quarterback you know, you don’t want the linemen right in the face of the quarterback because that’s where the quarterback can get injured … It’s hard when you’re talking about quarterback play. So the first thing that’s going to be important, I think this year especially, is to make the routine plays routinely and take care of the football.”

Day mentioned how Ohio State has a lot of weapons, once again. And if the quarterback sticks to the routine, as well as the other skill guys, it’ll be a seamless transition.

“Because we have so many weapons that we don’t need extraordinary play,” Day said. “We need consistent play, we need smart play, need to take care of the football, play well on third down, execute really well in the red zone and lead the team. 

“You know, I know it sounds cliche, but that’s real. There’s about five plays in a game where you (have) to make great decisions and be smart and that might be throwing it away. It might be checking it down and might be trying to fit it into a window. And as a coach, you can’t quite cover all of those scenarios.”

Ultimately, there are myriad factors to becoming Ohio State’s starting quarterback. It’ll be a fascinating summer.

“Part of it is just going to play and that’s kind of I think what people talk about, they talk about the ‘it’ factor,” Day said. “Those are some of the things that people talk about. So there’s a lot that comes with it. It’s kind of like that pie chart and there’s different pieces of all the things that come into play. 

“And each quarterback is different. You know, their ability to be able to run and create with their feet, their ability to impact the run game with their feet, their ability to throw in the pocket. (You also have) their ability to get out of the pocket, all those things are going to be considered.”