Ryan Day shares his mindset in putting Lincoln Kienholz in Cotton Bowl

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Ryan Day didn’t have a choice. After starting quarterback Devin Brown suffered an ankle injury early in Ohio State’s matchup against Missouri in the Cotton Bowl, Day was forced to play freshman Lincoln Kienholz. After the game, the OSU head coach pulled back the curtain on the difficult situation.

“When you’re a freshman quarterback who comes in during the summer, you don’t have the spring, you really don’t have much of a preseason, and then you get thrown into it with the scouts a little bit here and there,” Day explained. “But when Kyle [McCord] was in there and Devin [Brown] was getting reps in the twos, Lincoln didn’t really get many reps.

“He did get reps in bowl practice, but that’s not like playing in a game. I think his first few drives were inside the 10-yard line. That’s a tough place to be. What I didn’t want to do is put him in a situation where he’s going to the ball over and maybe see something he’s not used to seeing. And then all of a sudden, we’re really battling uphill.”

Kienholz couldn’t win the uphill battle. In Ohio State’s 14-3 loss to Mizzou, Kienholz only completed 6-of-his-17 pass attempts for 86 yards. He did not throw a touchdown. He also carried the ball six times for two total yards.

It wasn’t exactly an ideal game for Kienholz to receive his first meaningful minutes. Before the Cotton Bowl matchup, Kienholz only had played in two games, tallying a combined 25 yards. Day knew it wouldn’t be easy on his inexperienced freshman, and tried to help him as much as possible.

“What I felt we could do there was get into halftime, get it settled, and try to get the ball towards midfield. If we did, the defense got us a stop, got us at midfield. We stalled and then missed the field goal,” Day said. “I felt like that was our chance to maybe jump on top a little bit. And just couldn’t quite get it going.

“But I give Lincoln credit. He got put in a tough spot, and he battled out there and did make some good throws. But that was a tough ask right there. And we need to help more.”

Ohio State shouldn’t face a similar situation next season. On Jan. 4, Kansas State standout quarterback Will Howard committed to OSU in the transfer portal. Between the new addition and Ohio State’s existing quarterback talent, the Buckeyes should be loaded behind center in 2024.