Ryan Day addresses decision to stick with Kyle McCord, limit Devin Brown
While he had designs on getting quarterback Devin Brown in the game more to spell starter Kyle McCord in the ongoing Ohio State quarterback competition, head coach Ryan Day thought otherwise on the sideline on Saturday. Amid a bit of a dysfunctional offensive start, Day didn’t want to compound it with any discontinuity.
Thus, he opted to let McCord play a lions share of the snaps. Brown played some, but not as much as Day would like going forward.
“I would’ve liked to have seen Devin play a little bit more. I just felt like, we went three and out there and then I was worried that we weren’t going to be able to get in a rhythm. We already felt a little clunky early on. Missed some short yardage situations. Didn’t convert on some third downs. And so I didn’t want to run the risk of putting ourselves in a bad spot by continually moving those guys in and out,” Day said.
McCord went 20-of-33 for 239 yards and an interception as Brown attempted just three passes, completing one for -2 yards. Ohio State won, 23-3, on the back of a strong defensive performance and 143 rushing yards from the backfield.
Day is hopeful to get Brown more run going forward, and shared he’d hoped to play him for a number of series in the first half, not just one.
“I wanted to get him in in probably the third series and then probably in the fifth or sixth. And it just didn’t quite work out that way. So we’ll evaluate it this week,” Day said.
He still plans to get Brown meaningful game run, but not at the expense of potentially harming the greater operation.
“But going in, really wanted to play Devin some more. Would like to do that moving forward. But like I said from the beginning, we gotta make sure we’re doing what’s right for the team. What’s right for Ohio State. And I felt like that was the right call at the time,” Day said.
McCord assessed his performance postgame
It wasn’t a perfect performance, but McCord looked solid and, most importantly, led the Buckeyes to a 23-3 victory against Indiana.
McCord did not throw a touchdown in the win as he finished 20-of-33 passing (60.6%) for 239 yards and an interception. Speaking postgame on CBS, he offered his thoughts on what he liked from his play as well as what areas he can improve.
“I think there’s a lot to learn from it,” McCord said. “I’m excited to go back and watch the film. I feel like as an offense we had our moments, moved the ball well and scored a few times. But at the same time, there’s a lot of improve upon. I’m excited. Overall, I thought we did all right, but left some points on the field for sure.”