Ryan Day responds to possibility of playing two quarterbacks early in season

Ohio State‘s quarterback battle is coming down to the wire just a month out from the Buckeyes’ 2023 season opener. It’ll be either veteran Kyle McCord or blue-chipper Devin Brown — but that’s as far as Day will open up.

Still, Day made sure to remind the Buckeye faithful that this isn’t the first time Ohio State has been in this position before. More importantly, it has worked out every time. Day also isn’t ruling out potentially playing both QBs situationally depending on how the offense is succeeding.

“Going on seven years now, we’ve been in this situation quite a few times at Ohio State and just not knowing who the quarterback is going to be going into the season,” Day said during Big Ten media day. “You had a new one with Dwayne [Haskins], had a new one with Justin [Fields], had a new one with CJ [Stroud], and now here we are again.

“When you go into these situations, you’d like for someone to emerge during camp, but who knows if that’s going to happen or not? You’d like to see somebody emerge, and then you name them, just like we’ve done with CJ and Justin and Dwayne. If that doesn’t happen, then maybe that is the case. We’ll have to evaluate it from there.”

McCord is the only one of the two that we’ve seen publically throw this offseason. He was the primary option during April’s spring game, completing 18-of-34 passes for 184 yards and one touchdown. Even more, McCord is entering his third season in Day’s offense, and in that regard, his experience trumps Browns’.

Still, there’s a reason Day hasn’t named McCord the official starter, and it’s because Brown has made it difficult to rule him as the clear backup. He’s an athletic option but hasn’t been able to show off his arm talent the way that McCord was able to during last month’s spring showcase. Even with an injury keeping him out of action early this offseason, Day likes what he has with his top two options under center.

“We’ll see,” Day said of the quarterback battle’s outcome. “I know that we’ve got to go in and win that first game on the road, so we’re going to do everything we can and do what’s right for Ohio State.

“Again, I’m excited to see these guys compete and go put it on the field. It’s different when you’re throwing routes in the air and going through workouts than when you’re actually playing football. We’ve got to go start playing football here and figure out who the quarterback is going to be.”

Day will have to make his decision by Sept. 2, as the Buckeyes have a Big Ten road matchup right off the bat with a matchup against Indiana — although, the Buckeyes are 27.5-point betting favorites, according to Caesars Sportsbook.