Ohio State QB Devin Brown exits Cotton Bowl with injury, Lincoln Kienholz comes in
ARLINGTON, Texas — Devin Brown was the first Ohio State quarterback to make his first career start in a bowl game. That start, however, was short-lived.
Brown injured his ankle late in the first quarter of Friday night’s Cotton Bowl while being sacked by Missouri safety JC Carlies.
Brown reached for his left ankle after he was brought down by Carlies. The redshirt freshman, replacing now-former starter Kyle McCord — who transferred to Syracuse after the regular season — missed time this season with a right ankle injury he suffered against Penn State in Week 8.
Brown went to the locker room with less than 13 minutes to go in the second quarter of Friday’s top-10, New Year’s Six showdown in AT&T Stadium. That was after he briefly stayed in the game while Ohio State alternated between the “Wildcat” offense and having him throw, despite his hobbled ankle.
True freshman Lincoln Kienholz replaced Brown on the Buckeyes’ fifth drive of the night.
Brown, a former five-star prospect and Elite 11 finalist in the 2022 recruiting class, lost a longstanding and back-and-forth competition with McCord that started, really, last bowl season and carried into the first two games of the regular season.
Day found a role for Brown in the Buckeyes’ offense midway through the year at Purdue when he introduced a red zone package for the dual-threat signal caller. Brown rushed for his first career touchdown against the Boilermakers and nearly had another before he fumbled through the end zone. The following week against Penn State, Brown almost reached the goal line again, but he suffered his first ankle injury, which sidelined him down the stretch of the regular season.
Brown was fully healthy entering bowl season, and he re-asserted himself as the leader he proved he can be during the spring and summer when he was competing with McCord for the starting job.
Brown embraced the opportunity to help the program transition from another Michigan hangover to a momentum-building New Year’s Six triumph that could have put the wheels in motion for 2024.
But a slow start and then an injury spoiled those plans for the passionate underclassman.
