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Kyle McCord named Big Ten Freshman of the Week in Buckeyes debut

Jeremy-Birminghamby:Jeremy Birmingham•09/27/21•

Birm

Kyle McCord by Birm -- Lettermen Row
Kyle McCord shook off some early nerves and threw for 300 yards in his college debut. (Birm/Lettermen Row)

COLUMBUS — Kyle McCord wasn’t flawless in his Ohio State debut.

But the Buckeyes freshman did enough to earn his first Big Ten conference honor.

The league named McCord its Freshman of the Week following for his work on Saturday night against Akron. McCord is the fourth straight Ohio State freshman to win the award and second quarterback this year to be tabbed. Fellow signal-caller C.J. Stroud picked up the honor for his work against Minnesota and Oregon while tailback Treveyon Henderson got the call after decimating Tulsa a week ago.

It wasn’t a perfect night for Kyle McCord but head coach Ryan Day found plenty of positives in the 5-star freshman’s first outing.

“He does a really good job of preparing,” Day said. “An excellent job. He puts a lot of work into this thing. It’s the first time he’s ever played in a college football game. He’s a true freshman. I think the game was moving pretty fast for him early on. He was working at hyper speed, I think.”

Kyle McCord-Ohio State-Ohio State football-Buckeyes
Kyle McCord played the entire first half and two series of the second against Akron. (Birm/Lettermen Row)

Kyle McCord earned a place in Ohio State history with his first start. The Scarlet and Gray started a true freshman quarterback and running back in the same game for the first time.

McCord completed 13-of-18 passes for 319 yards in his first college game and connected on a pair of touchdown throws in his debut. He played the majority of the first half and two series in the second before giving way to redshirt freshman Jack Miller who completed the game for Ohio State.

With the status of presumptive started C.J. Stroud still somewhat up in the air, McCord could make his second career start against Rutgers this coming Saturday. His father, Derek, played quarterback for the Scarlet Knights from 1988-1992.

Ohio State will take on Rutgers at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 2, the Big Ten Network will televise.

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