Ryan Day shares latest on Ohio State backup QB situation entering Week 5

Ohio State cruised through a three-game non-conference slate to the tune of 157 points. The Buckeyes have enjoyed commanding second-half leads in each of those outings and played depth in the process, including at the quarterback position.

Less than a year removed from his injury-riddled start in the Cotton Bowl, Devin Brown has piloted six drives so far this season. One of them, though, simply saw him kneel down to close out the opener against Akron. That said, of the other five drives the redshirt sophomore’s quarterbacked this season, only one has led to a touchdown, while the remaining four have ended in punts.

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Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was asked Tuesday if Brown — who lost offseason quarterback battles to Kyle McCord in 2023 and Will Howard in 2024 — is still the team’s unquestioned No. 2 quarterback.

“I mean, guys are competing every day in practice,” Day said. “He would be our No. 2 right now. But, yeah, I mean, that’s across the board — everyone’s got an opportunity to compete.

“There’s five guys in that room that want to get out there. And so to say they’re not competing every day wouldn’t be right for them. They got to come in and bring it, and so we’ll have opportunities today and into this week in practice to evaluate them and kind of see where we go. But right now he is our two.”

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Brown completed only 2-of-6 passes for 14 yards against Marshall this past weekend. He took over for Howard with 11:24 to go in the fourth quarter, but a drop from senior wideout Jayden Ballard on 3rd-and-3 quickly spoiled his first drive of the day. He kept his second series alive with a 3rd-and-5 completion to third-year receiver David Adolph, however, back-to-back incompletions — including a misfire on a wide screen to redshirt freshman Bryson Rodgers — led to another Buckeyes punt.

“The third down conversion was good,” Day said, when asked about Brown’s relief performance versus Marshall. “He did miss a couple throws. So probably not as much in the game to really make a huge evaluation on, but every play is an evaluation. We’re trying to build that depth, and so the development has to keep coming in practice, and when we get in there in a game, we want to move the ball down the field and score touchdowns.”

Brown’s best drive of the season came against Western Michigan in Week 2. That night, he completed all five of his passes, three of which were part of an eight-play, 81-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter — Brown hooked up with three different receivers, including sophomore Brandon Inniss, who reeled in a 27-yard catch on a nice ball from the third-year signal caller.

Later in that game, true freshman quarterback Julian Sayin completed both of his passes, with the second resulting in a 55-yard catch-and-run touchdown for tight end Bennett Christian.

Sayin, the On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 2 quarterback in the 2024 class, is the only other Buckeyes quarterback who has attempted a pass this season, aside from Brown and Howard. Redshirt freshman Lincoln Kienholz got in against Western Michigan but only handed the ball off.

Brown is still QB2 for Ohio State, according to Day, but the other quarterbacks on the roster are continuing to compete for that job, too.