Urban Meyer discusses Ohio State quarterback decision, pressure on Ryan Day

Picking from a stable of viable quarterbacks is something of a minefield for a head coach, as Urban Meyer would know. As the Ohio State head coach, he once had to sift out a starter from J.T. Barrett, Cardale Jones and Braxton Miller and well before that there were Chris Leak and Tim Tebow at Florida.

Suffice to say, the now-retired coach knows the pressure on Ryan Day as he named Kyle McCord the starting quarterback for Week 1 against Indiana. He also knows Day is one of the best in the business to make the decision, too.

“If there’s that slight separation, it still weighs heavy on you that you did the right thing because you care about those players. That’s the most important position, I think, in all of sports. So you have to be right. The good news is, and I think the Buckeye fans need to appreciate this: You have two. Ryan Day and Corey Dennis now — name someone that’s done a better, coaches that have done a better job recruiting players, developing players than those two. They’re in great hands. Like you said, it’s a Ferrari,” Meyer said on “Urban’s Take with Tim May.”

The separation between McCord and challenger Devin Brown has, apparently, been quite slight, with the latter pushing McCord all through fall camp. Brown is expected to play some notable snaps against Indiana while coming off the bench.

And with the surrounding talent at the skill position — there are still some questions at offensive line — Meyer thinks either of the two will be put in a good position to succeed. Not to mention the help they get from playing in Day’s scheme.

Plus, the early schedule of games for Ohio State — at Indiana, against Youngstown State and Western Kentucky — isn’t murderers row. The chances to iron out any kinks will be plenty.

“They have four running backs they feel good about. They have the best wide receiver group in America. If the offensive line can hang in there, because I know it’s going to be some growing pains — the good thing is they got three teams, Indiana’s not the Indiana of old, I know they have a bunch of transfers, I’m anxious to see what they look like, but there was a time when Indiana would hit you right in the face. I don’t know if that’s that Indiana right now,” Meyer said.

With two quarterbacks playing at such a high level and making a decision difficult, some coaches might be paralyzed by the choice. The adage about having two watches can be adapted to quarterbacks.

But Meyer doesn’t buy into that. For one, he’s a glutton for competition at all times. And second, football is a violent sport. Even if one quarterback is a clear favorite over the other, they might get hurt.

“I feel good about everything that I hear about Kyle McCord and I hear people say ‘If you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one.’ I don’t agree with that. If you say you have two quarterbacks, you have two quarterbacks. Which, you know what, that is better than one,” Meyer said. “Because football is a violent game and if something happens, you jog that No. 2 and you feel good about it.”