Scarlet Sunrise: Ryan Day reveals who earned 'Player of the Game' honors from last weekend's scrimmage

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Ryan Day reveals ‘Player of the Game’ honors from last weekend’s scrimmage

When he took the podium on Thursday morning, Ohio State coach Ryan Day hadn’t met with the media since the Buckeyes held their first scrimmage of training camp.

So Day fielded plenty of questions about the Buckeyes’ scrimmage, which was held on Saturday. Day peeled back the curtain on some details from the scrimmage, including who earned ‘Player of the Game’ honors from that scrimmage.

On offense, senior wide receiver Emeka Egbuka was the Player of the Game for his scrimmage. According to Day, Egbuka had three touchdown grabs in the scrimmage, an incredible feat against the Buckeyes loaded secondary. Day said the wide receiver room as a whole had a great scrimmage.

On the defensive side of the ball, Day revealed that second-year linebacker and rising star Arvell Reese earned ‘Player of the Game’ honors.

Oh, and the Buckeyes went through a mock champions meeting after the scrimmage to show the roster what it means to be a champion from a game.

“We did do a kind of a mock champions meeting, just to make sure that everybody understands what that means, and that the ultimate goal for each of our guys to grade out a champion,” Day said. “It’s the goal of each position coach for their unit to grade out a champion. And if that doesn’t happen, they’ve got to figure out why that is. You have to look yourself in a mirror. You’ve got to get to your position coach and figure out why you didn’t grade out over 80% in that game.”

Ohio State is simulating games as much as it can with the scrimmages. Arvell Reese and Emeka Egbuka were the stars of that first scrimmage. Another one will take place this Saturday.

Fallout from Buckeyes naming Will Howard starting quarterback

Buckeyes coach Ryan Day named Will Howard as the starting quarterback on Thursday, ending an offseason-long battle for the nod.

The former Kansas State star, who won a Big 12 title with the Wildcats in 2022 and racked up 5,786 passing yards, 48 touchdowns and 25 interceptions in his career, was the front-runner for the job all offseason — but still needed to prove he was the guy in training camp. He appears to have done that.

Howard beat out third-year Ohio State quarterback Devin Brown and true freshman Julian Sayin, among others, for the job.

After an up-and-down spring in which he flashed but wasn’t consistent enough, Howard felt more confident in himself entering training camp. He took control of the offense and solidified himself as the man to beat for the QB1 gig.

Full coverage of the announcement is here:

BREAKING: Buckeyes name Will Howard starting quarterback

‘Will has separated himself’: How Will Howard won starting quarterback job for Buckeyes

Will Howard is QB1: What it means for other Buckeyes quarterbacks

Tim May: Julian Sayin pushing for Buckeyes backup quarterback role

Ohio State freshman offensive lineman Ian Moore sheds black stripe

Ohio State has ‘officially’ added another member to its 2024 team. Freshman offensive tackle Ian Moore shed his black stripe following Thursday’s practice, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly announced.

Moore, a former top 200 prospect in the On3 Industry Rankings, was an early enrollee after signing with Ohio State in December 2023. He didn’t miss a spring practice and so far hasn’t missed a preseason training camp practice, despite a ‘funky virus’ moving through the offensive line room.

While Moore isn’t expected to crack the starting line up — maybe even the two deep — his development under Justin Frye is on track.

READ MORE: Ohio State freshman offensive lineman Ian Moore sheds black stripe

Counting down

Buckeyes vs. Akron: 15 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 106 days

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