Ryan Day evaluates the battle between floor vs. ceiling in Ohio State QB battle

With just over a week until opening day, the Ohio State QB competition is still ongoing. Ryan Day said the staff was a 50/50 split between Kyle McCord and Devin Brown this week, adding to the intrigue of who will start at quarterback against Indiana.

There are a few different questions the staff has to ask, including which player has the higher floor. However, Day said that’s likely not the biggest factor in the decision.

“I think you want to figure out who has the highest ceiling, who can develop more,” Day said. “I think that does play into the into consideration. But at the same time, you’re not going to do that at the risk of losing games.”

Brown and McCord have been battling all offseason to replace CJ Stroud, who’s off to the NFL with the Houston Texans. McCord has the most experience of the two, throwing for 606 yards and three touchdowns in 12 games over the last two years. Brown played in just two games last year.

Through camp, though, neither Ohio State QB has been able to separate himself during the competition. But Day made it clear whichever quarterback deserves to play, will play.

Either way, Day and the staff remain confident in either option.

“There’ve been situations in the past (where) we have two really good quarterbacks on the roster and you know, these things have a way of working themselves out,” Day said. “But I can’t sit here and honestly say, I met with the quarterbacks and they agreed. There’s not one that’s that much further ahead … They’re both playing very well. So that’s really good, and we have confidence in them.” 

Day understands practice reps are different from those in a game. That’s why it’s still a wait-and-see type of approach with the competition, but he reiterated whoever deserves to play will see the field.

“We’ve talked about this before, you don’t know until you get into the game, what exactly you have,” Day said. “Practice is good. Practice gives us a snapshot of what you’re going to see in a game. But once you start getting tackled and you’re in the situations and you’re live, that’s a whole other thing. So we’ll just keep trying to figure it out, one day at a time.

“But I’ve been in situations — not very many — where you don’t have a quarterback and that’s not a good feeling. We’re going to have a quarterback. We may have two. And if they deserve to play, they’re going to play.”

On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this report.