Ryan Day: Julian Sayin, Lincoln Kienholz are 'neck and neck' in Ohio State quarterback battle

Ohio State is one of several programs with a notable quarterback battle ongoing. At this point, though, it’s apparently a tight, two-man race, with a third in the running, to be the Buckeyes QB1.

Per Ryan Day at their press conference on Monday, Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz are right there and “neck-and-neck” with one another in the competition so far through spring practice. That’s with Tavien St. Clair then a little behind them out of three in contention for now in Columbus.

“I think it’s fair to say that Tavien probably has the longest way to go just because of just the lack of experience,” Day said. “I think it’s easy to see – you guys saw it on Saturday, the talent and his ability to run, his athleticism, the arm. He has all those things. He just needs to play more, he needs to see it more. The games just moving really fast for him right now but he’s picking it up, he’s getting it every day.”

“So, I’d say he probably has the farthest way to go and then Lincoln and Julian are, you know, pretty much neck-and-neck right now,” said Day.

With that being the case, Day said it could be a competition that continues past this week and into fall camp for the Buckeyes. That’s if neither Kienholz or Sayin make any notable move this week going into their spring game on Saturday.

“I mean, maybe one of these guys jumps out ahead this week, um, and really, you know, makes some separation, which, if they do, then they do. But, we’ll see. We’ll kind of see where it goes,” said Day. “Tomorrow will be a big day. But then, really, Friday is more of a spider’s practice. We have our high school clinic here. But then the spring game. So, somebody would have to make a significant move here on Tuesday and or Saturday to really make that move to jump ahead.”

Day took a lot of questions at the podium this morning about the quarterbacks coming out of their open practice on Saturday. He continued to say that the trio are all in a similar spot right now as none have much, if any, true playing experience and all are trying to make up for that inexperience by maximizing their reps.

“I met with the quarterbacks and, um, you know, I made the comment that the only thing that was different about Saturday’s practice was, um, the fact that, you know, we had students there and we had the media there. Other than that, it was just another practice,” said Day. “What it does make you realize is how important every rep is. And, that’s, you know, my job and that’s Billy Fessler and Brian Hartline’s job, is to make sure that, you know, they understand every single play matters and we’ve got to get better every day.”

“This is a situation where you have Lincoln, who’s been here now for three years, and Julian, you know, just for a year, and then Tavien just showed up so all in three different points of their career but all still learning and growing. None of them really have, you know, a ton of significant playing experience,” Day said. “We’ll see. Yeah, we’ll see. I think that there’s been good play, um, you know. There’s been mistakes made. But that’s part of growing, you know. Now the question is are you going to continue to make the same mistakes over and over again? That’s when, you know, we start to get nervous. But, right now, um, we’re still in that growth phase, that learning phase.”

It sounds like, to this point of the battle, the standing has it as a tie between Sayin and Kienholz coming into the final week of spring practice for Ohio State. All three will continue to be evaluated, though, over the next few days, including the spring game, to see if that shifts with anyone taking a true lead for the Buckeyes.

“It’s been, you know, three guys getting after it every day, improvement across the board. You know, there’s been good days on all fronts but then there’s been other days not so good,” Day said. “They’re growing. They’re learning. You know, there’s nobody that’s any that much further ahead than the other one right now so they’re going to continue to compete.”

“This is a big week for them and Saturday will be a big day for them as well, getting in front of everybody and having an opportunity to compete.”