Ryan Day confirms Devin Brown suffered high ankle sprain in Cotton Bowl

Ohio State quarterback Devin Brown suffered a high ankle sprain in Friday’s Cotton Bowl against Missouri, Ryan Day confirmed after the game. Brown went down in the first quarter and eventually left in the second quarter as Lincoln Kienholz entered.

After the injury, Brown stayed in the game for a few plays. Eventually, though, started limping toward the sidelines while the Buckeyes lined up for a 4th and 3. Although TreVeyon Henderson was ready for the direct snap on the play, Day called timeout and eventually kicked the field goal to make it a 3-0 Ohio State lead. While the Buckeyes defense ran back onto the field, Brown got his leg taped up on the sideline.

After Missouri punted, Brown came back onto the field with the Ohio State offense, still clearly limping as the Buckeyes ran a play before the end of the first quarter. He remained on the field for the rest of the series, but eventually headed back to the locker room.

In his brief start, Brown went just 4-for-6 for 20 yards. Kienholz, making his third appearance of the season — but by far his biggest — went 8-for-17 for 86 yards as Ohio State fell to Missouri 14-3.

More on Devin Brown, what could be next for Ohio State

Friday marked Brown’s first career start after losing out on the quarterback competition to Kyle McCord to start the season. But with McCord now off to Syracuse after entering the transfer portal, it opened the door for Brown to get the nod as QB1.

During the regular season, Brown made five appearances as part of some package plays. In that time, he threw for 197 yards and two touchdowns while adding 35 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown on 19 attempts. He sat behind both McCord and CJ Stroud on the depth chart in 2022, but Friday night was an opportunity for Brown to prove himself as Ohio State weighs its options at quarterback.

Now, all eyes are on where the Buckeyes go next. On3’s Pete Nakos reported they’re in the mix for Kansas State transfer quarterback Will Howard, although ESPN’s Dusty Dvoracek later told Scott Van Pelt he and Dave Pasch were told Ohio State isn’t looking at the portal.

In his press conference, though, Day said the program will go through a thorough evaluation.

“I’m just fresh off the game, so it’s hard for me to process all of it right now,” Day said. “But we’ve got to figure out what’s best for the team moving forward, and that’s in a lot of areas. So we’ve got to take a hard look at that and get that figured out. Everything will be looked at.”