Scarlet Sunrise: Buckeyes expect to gain more clarity on 'back-and-forth' QB battle this week
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Buckeyes expect to gain more clarity on ‘back-and-forth’ QB battle this week
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was asked Wednesday if, by this time next week, he’d have a starting quarterback named, as junior Kyle McCord and redshirt Devin Brown continue to compete under center.
“I don’t know,” Day said. “But I will say that I think, by this time next week, we’ll have some more clarity on where we’re going.”
It’s a critical week for every Ohio State position battle, namely because the Buckeyes will be holding a scrimmage Saturday that could move the needle on those competitions.
“The hardest thing about playing the game of football is you don’t really get a feel for what you have until you play the game,” Day explained. “I know that sounds silly. But, in basketball, you can go shoot around and play against each other in the park. Or you can go to the batting cages [in baseball]. You can do those things. But, in football, how do you really simulate a game? And, for quarterback, how do you simulate the pass rush? It’s impossible to do, having two 300-pound guys going against each other, like four of them going on at once right in front of you.”
Day continued: “And then trying to process what’s going on with the coverages and the protections and what’s the down and distance in the situation. The ball can just be a little bit off — the ball gets tipped up in the air for an interception or it’s completed right here for a first down — when you decide to throw it or pull it down. You have all these different things, decision-making processes.”
Day pointed out that you can only learn so much from team work, 7-on-7 action or routes on air. In those scenarios, you can figure out if a quarterback has the physical traits to get it done.
But that capability is rendered irrelevant if that quarterback can’t perform in certain situations. Ohio State is starting to put McCord and Brown in those situations in training camp: short yardage, red zone, third down, third-and-long, the list goes on.
In camp — aside from a scrimmage — that’s the closest you’re going to get to simulating what Day discussed. It’s easier with a bigger sample size, though, Day noted. That’s why the Buckeyes are trying stack days of situational football right now. That way, you can start to see a quarterback’s progression, or a lack thereof.
Day was asked about if his approach to coaching this quarterback battle is different from the last one in 2021, which featured C.J. Stroud.
“It hasn’t really changed the coaching. It’s just a different dynamic. I think when you look at where Justin [Fields] and C.J. were, where Dwayne [Haskins Jr.] was in that preseason,” Day said, referencing the Buckeyes’ other two most recent quarterback battles as well, “there wasn’t as much of a competition, I guess is the best way to put it. Where this one’s a really strong competition.”
Even so, Day is still coaching McCord and Brown “really hard.”
“It’s a good battle,” he said. “It’s back and forth, for sure. And they know that this week is important to them. The scrimmage on Saturday will be important, and they’re constantly putting up good numbers on a daily basis. So we’ll compare the statistics, but there’s also the eyeball test.
“They’re both competing at a high level.”
Buckeyes mixing, matching tackle options with critical camp stretch ahead
Things are heating up in the Ohio State offensive tackle competition, too. It appears as if four players, in particular, are vying for the starting spots: Josh Fryar, Josh “Jimmy” Simmons, Tegra Tshabola and Luke Montgomery.
“All four of those guys are competing at a high level,” Day said.
What Day, O-Line coach Justin Frye and grad assistant Mike Sollenne are now trying to figure out is where each of those four tackles belongs: right or left. It’s a decision Day wants settled by midweek or week’s end “so that guys can settle into those positions.”
Get the full rundown on the Buckeyes’ tackle situation here.
Ohio State DE Omari Abor undergoes surgery, will miss ‘at least a couple months’
Second-year Buckeyes defensive end Omari Abor will miss “at least a couple months” with an undisclosed injury, according to head coach Ryan Day.
Abor announced a successful surgery Tuesday on social media. Day confirmed that procedure Wednesday but didn’t have more details to provide on the nature of the injury.
Abor was limited last season with a knee issue and played just eight snaps — all against Arkansas State in Week 2 — before redshirting.
For more on Abor, head over here.
Ohio State AD Gene Smith to retire at end of June 2024
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith announced Wednesday that he plans to step down on June 30, 2024. Smith will retire after 19 years at the helm of Ohio State Athletics.
Smith’s tenure is currently the third longest among ADs in Ohio State history. He’s the eighth Buckeyes athletic director. The other seven were Andy Geiger (1994-2005), Jim Jones (1987-94), Richard Bay (1984-87), Hugh Hindman (1977-84), J. Edward Weaver (1970-77), Richard Larkins (1947-70), and Lynn W. St. John (1912-47).
Smith, 67, emphasized that the recent changes to college athletics “were not a part” of his decision to retire next summer.
“Everything that’s happening, some of it I’ve seen before,” Smith said in a Woody Hayes Athletic Center press conference. “Realignment, I was blessed to be a part of the committee that went from the Big Eight to the Big 12. So realignment’s not new to me. NIL’s new to me. But the transfer portal is not new to me. Olympic sports have been dealing with that for years.”
Smith continued: “And so the changes in the industry is not what caused me to say I need to step away. My mentors have always have said, ‘You will know when it’s time. You’ll know.’”
For more on Smith’s retirement announcement, go here.
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