Buckeyes name Kyle McCord full-time starting quarterback
COLUMBUS — Following last week’s Ohio State win over Youngstown State, Ryan Day was still hesitant to name a full-time starting quarterback. He said he wanted to watch back over the game to be sure before making such a pivotal decision.
After watching the tape, Day is ready to end the quarterback competition. Two weeks into the regular season, Day officially named junior Kyle McCord the Buckeyes starting quarterback moving forward.
In his third season in the Buckeyes quarterback room, McCord started each of the first two games, even playing nearly all of the snaps for Ohio State in the road opener two weeks ago. But Day insisted on wanting to see more from both McCord and sophomore Devin Brown, who is now the backup quarterback moving forward.
“It gives Kyle a peace of mind that he is the starter,” Day said Tuesday. “It’s good for the team to have that distinction that Kyle is the starter.”
Through two games, McCord is 34 of 53 passing for 497 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception. Two of his three touchdown strikes went to star wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. on Saturday, and the other went to fellow star receiver Emeka Egbuka. McCord had his best game so far in the home opener against Youngstown State.
Following that four-score win, McCord was asked if he did enough to finally turn the permanent starting role in his favor.
“That’s not up to me,” McCord said. “That’s a question for Coach Day. Like I said earlier, I think the only thing I am worried about when I am on the field is making the most out of my opportunities. Whether that’s every single drive, that’s great. Every other drive? That’s great. Just one drive, that’s great.
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“Whatever opportunities I get, that’s what I am going to try to make the most out of.”
McCord is now getting the opportunity to lead a Buckeyes offense that expects to be elite. He is only the third permanent starter under coach Ryan Day at Ohio State, joining C.J. Stroud and Justin Fields. Both Stroud and Fields became Heisman Trophy finalists for the Buckeyes and first-round picks in the NFL Draft after two years under center.
That’s now the standard for McCord as he officially takes over the offense in the aftermath of the quarterback competition. He’ll start for the Buckeyes against Western Kentucky on Saturday as a tune-up for the massive road trip to Notre Dame looms the week after.
“[Day’s] track record obviously speaks for itself. The guys who have stuck around in the program, they all go on to do really good things,” McCord said before the season started. “So even though it didn’t happen right away for me, I know it’s a marathon and that if I stuck around, trusted the process, kept getting better, I’d put myself in a good position.”
It took a bit longer than he expected to be named the guy. But Kyle McCord is the starting quarterback moving forward. And Ohio State can now proceed with a leader under center with just one game until the biggest test of the year.
This is a developing story. Stick with Lettermen Row for more coverage of Kyle McCord becoming the full-time starter.
