Ryan Day tabs junior Kyle McCord as starting quarterback for Indiana game
COLUMBUS — Kyle McCord spent the last two seasons learning as the backup quarterback at Ohio State.
Now in Year Three, it’s McCord’s turn to become the starter for the season opener. Day made sure to mention that second-year quarterback Devin Brown will also play against the Hoosiers.
McCord, a former five-star prospect from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was named the starting quarterback by Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day on Tuesday.
Day announced the news at his weekly press conference with the media.
Yes, McCord already has a start under his belt for the Buckeyes. That came in relief of an injured C.J. Stroud back in 2021, when McCord threw for three touchdown passes in a win over Akron. But this is now a full-time starting gig, and that comes with sky-high expectations for the junior.
McCord will only be Day’s third season-opening starter, joining C.J. Stroud and Justin Fields as quarterbacks to start multiple games for a Day-led team. 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 opens the season as the starter. He’ll take the first snap for the Buckeyes at Indiana on Saturday. He understands the stakes of this decision by Day to name him the starter. And he isn’t backing down from those expectations.
“No one will ever put higher expectations or higher standards on myself than I will,” McCord said earlier this month before training camp started. “I always think that you have to go out there and play with a lot of confidence. You have to go out there and hone in on every play. Look at the guys before you. I’ve been watching film of 2018, watching Dwayne and watching JT years before, Justin, C.J. They’ve all set the precedent, but they’ve all done it their way.
“Just kind of realizing there are a lot of ways this can be done, but like I said, I don’t think anyone’s ever put expectation on myself that I didn’t expect from me.”
Ohio State has seen plenty of McCord in game action to know he’s ready for the starting role. McCord has a career stat line of 41 of 58 passing for 606 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He has appeared in 12 games for the Buckeyes, mostly coming in the second half of blowouts. But he hasn’t attempted more than seven passes in a game since that win over Akron during his freshman season, when he went 13 of 18 for 319 yards and a trio of touchdown passes.
McCord stuck around long enough to learn enough from Stroud, Day, quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis and other influential Buckeyes to learn how to prepare and play like a starter.
He feels that he is ready for the challenge.
“[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. “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.”
McCord did put himself in a good position. He is now the starting quarterback at Ohio State.
The Buckeyes have their first-team quarterback for the season-opening matchup.
