Ohio State Football: Ryan Day gives Devin Brown the opportunity to be QB1

The Ohio State football head coach, Ryan Day, has been selective with his comments since losing to Michigan for a third consecutive season. The first time he met with the media after that depressing afternoon in Ann Arbor was a week later when it was announced that Ohio State would play Missouri in the Cotton Bowl.

When questioned about the quarterback play both against That Team Up North and moving forward, Day seemed uncommitted and agitated. A day later, we learned why, as the Ohio State starting quarterback, Kyle McCord had entered his name into the transfer portal.

This left the door open for Day to either pursue a quarterback in the transfer portal for next season or hand over the keys to one of the two quarterbacks currently on the roster in Devin Brown or Lincoln Kienholz. Now it appears Brown will get the first crack at QB1.

Brown met with the media earlier in the week as preparation for the Cotton Bowl got underway. This was the first indication we got that Brown would be getting the start in place of McCord against the Tigers down in Texas.

"“I mean, I’m pumped. I can’t believe my first start is going to be in the Cotton Bowl. It’s a big stage against a really good team. A top 10 matchup and I’m just excited to go out there and show what I can do.”"

- Devin Brown

Day joined former Buckeye Bobby Carpenter on the Morning Juice program in Columbus on 97.1 The Fan. Carpenter asked the head man about Brown’s comments about being the starter when Day confirmed that indeed he would be getting that shot.

"“Devin and I sat down and talked about this (him being the starter for the Cotton Bowl). This is a great opportunity for Devin to take over this team and run with it. He is very excited about that.”"

- Ryan Day

Day went on to talk about Kienholz and the opportunity he has for more reps as the backup due to extra bowl practices. Since Kienholz didn’t start with the team until the summer, he missed out on an entire spring, and Day believes these practices will be key for his development as well. But it was made perfectly clear by Day that this is Brown’s opportunity to become the Buckeye starting quarterback moving forward.

That opportunity might be the reason why Day hasn’t been as aggressive in the transfer portal in his pursuit of a possible starting quarterback for next season. Outside of the fact that the portal quarterbacks are treating this off-season more like free agency than transfer opportunities with the money that is reportedly being thrown around, Day doesn’t want to promise anyone a starting position, especially if he is going to honestly give Brown a shot to win the job. To do otherwise would be dishonest.

It's not like Brown is some kind of basic-level quarterback who somehow fell into the luckiest opportunity of a lifetime. Brown was a big-time recruit coming out of high school. According to the 247Sports composite rankings, Brown was a high four-star recruit and the fifth-highest-ranked quarterback in the 2022 class.

What will it take for Brown to win over Day and become the starting quarterback for the Buckeyes moving forward? A good game in which he leads the Ohio State football team to a Cotton Bowl victory over the ninth-ranked Missouri Tigers would be a great place to start.