Paul Finebaum weighs in on Ohio State's QB1 competition: 'This is not complicated, McCord should start'

As the Ohio State quarterback competition rolls on, the question remains if it will be Kyle McCord or Devin Brown under center for the Buckeyes in 11 days. To SEC Network host Paul Finebaum, the answer is clear.

“This is not complicated,” Finebaum told Matt Barrie on SportsCenter Tuesady. “McCord should start.”

Ryan Day said earlier this week the staff was “almost split right down the middle” on whether to start McCord or Brown against Indiana, but it’s possible the situation changes once the season starts. While Finebaum said that’d be alright considering the schedule, McCord’s experience is the separator in his eyes. He has played in 12 games over the last two years compared to Brown’s two appearances last year.

No matter which one wins the job, though, Finebaum thinks they’ll be fine considering the talent on the rest of the roster. He also compared it to another high-profile competition in the SEC.

“Obviously, they’re playing a Big Ten team in the opener. They have Notre Dame later in the month of September. If you want to figure it out after that, fine,” Finebaum said. “But one guy has a lot of experience and the other guy doesn’t. When you think about this, Matt, this is not a bad problem to have because they have the best wide receiver room, they have skill positions as you mentioned. They have two really good quarterbacks that could probably start a lot of places.

“This is a better situation than some schools, like Alabama, which still can’t figure out what to do with not only three quarterbacks but four.”

Day provided an update on the Ohio State quarterback competition this week and made it clear whichever quarterback deserves to play, will play. He also pointed out the difference between practice reps and game reps, which add another layer to the decision.

“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.”

One thing’s for sure, though. The quarterback position is going to be one to watch all year at Ohio State.