Ohio State Football: Confidence level against Indiana
By Eric Boggs
The Offense – Confidence Level 7
When Ohio State has the ball on Saturday, all eyes are going to be on Kyle McCord. The redshirt sophomore has had two seasons to watch and learn as the backup of C.J. Stroud, who is now the starting quarterback in the NFL for the Houston Texans. Now it is McCord’s turn to be QB1 at one of the more prestigious football factories in all of college.
But that doesn’t mean it hasn’t come without controversy. Redshirt freshman Devin Brown has reportedly made this transition a difficult one for McCord, pushing him at every stage for an opportunity to be called the starting quarterback himself. So much so that Day announced on Monday in his press conference that Brown has earned the opportunity to play on Saturday as well.
This quarterback competition this offseason has been drama-filled, to say the least for the Ohio State fanbase. But that isn’t the only concern for this offense. The offensive line is replacing three starters as well, and midway through fall camp, Day and offensive line coach Justin Frye decided to switch tackle positions for senior Josh Fryar and junior transfer Josh Simmons. It sounds like this “experiment” has been good for both the players and for the team.
The Indiana defense, which was soft last season, will have to somehow try and stop the best wide receiving corps in college football as Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka lead the deepest and most talented wide receiving room in the nation.
The running backs are fully healthy and have an impressively deep room themselves. If not for both of these units, my confidence in this offense would be much lower than it already is given how Day has handled this quarterback competition and the perceived weakness of the offensive line.