Tag: Kyle McCord

Ryan Day could have pretty good feel on quarterback situation by week’s end

A decision on the starting quarterback could be coming soon, so stay tuned. Who do you think it will be?

Ohio State football preseason fall camp is well underway now. As things progress, we’ll continue to get nuggets of where things stand in some of the key competitions, and when it comes to this season, nothing gets more attention than who will replace Justin Fields as the starter for the Buckeyes.

Ryan Day has said all along he hopes there is enough separation to name a starter far enough before the season to move forward with chemistry and development. Based on comments he made today, that could come sooner rather than later.

“I think after this week we’re going to have a really good feel,” Day told reporters. “I think that Wednesday will be a big day — Saturday will be a big day. We’ll take Sunday off and come up for air, and at that point, I think we’ll have a pretty good feel (on the quarterback situation). I think maybe it’ll take another week after that, but we’ll see. Now that we’re kind of getting into practice five, we’re getting into 20 practices now when you include the spring. So, this is a pretty good body of work that we’re putting together day after day.  Will it be ready next week? I don’t know. But it’ll be pretty close to that timetable.”

As a reminder, the quarterback race is really down to three guys: redshirt freshmen C.J. Stroud and Jack Miller, and true freshman Kyle McCord. It’s doubtful five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers will be in the mix. The prevailing thought is Stroud is the leader in the clubhouse. Despite Day continuing to say there’s no front-runner, Stroud has been first out in drills and was the backup to Fields last season. It’s hard to see anyone else grabbing the starting job in a week’s time if it’s not Stroud, but we’ve been surprised before.

Even though Day and company might know where things stand, based on his comments, don’t expect an announcement to occur for over a week or so. Either way, we’ll be on top of it when the news is made available.

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WATCH: Ohio State quarterbacks fall camp media availability

The three Ohio State freshmen quarterbacks met with the media on Tuesday to discuss fall camp and the upcoming competition to be the named starter.

All three Ohio State freshmen quarterbacks were made available to the media on Tuesday, in what was the first media appearance of fall camp. Though things don’t technically get going until Wednesday, redshirt freshmen C.J. Stroud and Jack Miller, along with true freshman Kyle McCord, dropped by the Woody Hayes Athletic Center to talk about where things stand and to take some questions from reporters.

If we’re talking about Ohio State quarterbacks, then the general theme was always going to be about the competition to win the starting job between the three. Now that Quinn Ewers is going to enroll early and be eligible for the fall, it only adds more intrigue.

To get a look at all the video and audio, head on over to OhioStateBuckeyes.com and have a listen to what the QBs had to say individually.

It’s going to be interesting to watch this competition unfold, especially with the intrigue of Ewers potentially entering the fray. There are just a few weeks to figure it all out with the first game taking place on

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Kyle McCord named Pennsylvania state Gatorade Player of the Year

Ohio State freshman quarterback Kyle McCord was named the Gatorade Pennsylvania State Player of the Year on Thursday.

For the second straight year, an Ohio State freshman has been named the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year. Quarterback Kyle McCord received the honor on Thursday after leading St. Joseph’s Prep to the state title for the third year in a row. In a shortened season, McCord threw for 1,582 yards and 21 touchdowns.

McCord completed 99 of 153 passes with just one interception in only six games. In the Class 6A Pennsylvania state championship game, he passed for 337 yards and four touchdowns.

It’s not the first award for the 6-foot, 3-inch, 212-pounder either. He was also won the Philadelphia Catholic League and Maxwell Football Club Player of the Year, was selected for the 2021 All-American Bowl, and was also named the High School Football America/National High School Coaches Association National Player of the Year.

Wide receiver Julian Fleming received the same honor last season.

Congrats to McCord, and we can’t wait to see what he does with his career at Ohio State. Don’t count the five-star product out of things on the banks of the Olentangy.

Ryan Day provides update on Ohio State’s quarterback battle

Ohio State coach Ryan Day met with media to wrap up spring Friday and provided a bit of an update on the quarterback competition and timing.

It has been (and will continue to be) the most-watched position battle at Ohio State heading into the season opener this fall against Minnesota. Who will take over for Justin Fields as he heads off to make a slew of money in the NFL? Right now, it’s a three-horse race between redshirt freshmen C.J. Stroud and Jack Miller, and true freshman Kyle McCord.

We got a little glimpse of what each brings to the table during the spring game, but there’s still a long way to go. Head coach Ryan Day has been very honest, or coy — depending on how you look at it — when he’s had opportunities with the media, but he continues to call it to close to call. It’s clear that the race will continue into fall camp.

Speaking of Day, he met with the media on Friday. He provided at least some thinking as to where things are at, and what to expect as things head towards fall camp with the three vying to be the face of the Ohio State football team for the next year and perhaps beyond.

First things first, while the team will be without an official practice for about three months, all three have to commit to the strength and conditioning program.

“They’re tasked with being obsessed with learning the offense, and a lot goes with that,” Day told reporters. “They got to get in the weight. They got to get stronger, they gotta get faster, they gotta get quicker. We grade our guys in there, and we have a champions meeting right before the beginning of preseason camp. And if you’re gold, then that means that you’re one of the top performers in the weight room. That’s the first thing they’ve gotta do.”

But beyond that, Day just wants to give all three a chance, but knows that the priority is for each to develop as quickly as they can to be ready to lead the team when the season kicks off.

“I think the idea is to get the guys ready,” Day continued. “Across the board the focus is ‘Who’s the starter?’ OK — well — you could be the starter, but if you’re not ready to go that’s not gonna last very long. So the race is to get ready to play. The focus for these guys, again, just has to be ‘How do I get developed faster? How do I get the most ready to play in this season faster?’ Not trying to win the job, because I think maybe sometimes, it’s ‘How do I compare myself to the guy next to me?’ It’s not about that. It’s ‘How do I get myself ready,’ because we have to go win some really hard games this season.”

And perhaps more important than anything Day said, he touched on when the ideal time is to have a starter named between the three. He won’t hand one of them the keys to the offense just to get things going, but would love to turn things over to an official starter to allow for more reps and improvement.

“If we feel like someone’s taken that much of a step ahead, and they’re ready to play against Minnesota in that first week, then we’ll name the starter at that point,” Day said. “If it’s not until the week before, it’s not gonna be until the week before. It would be ideal to be able to name somebody a little bit sooner than that so they can get the majority of the reps. But until someone really puts themselves out in front of the other two, we’ll just keep going.”

OK. So there you have it. There’s been a ton of speculation about who is really leading this race (us included), but Day is determined to give all three a realistic shot at competing and letting this thing play out.

And that’s really how it should be. But that won’t stop us from asking.

Ohio State football 2021 projected depth chart, pre-spring offense

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WATCH: True freshman Kyle McCord connect with Jaxon Smith-Njigba for the score

Ohio State freshman Kyle McCord connects with Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a fade route in the corner of the endzone for one-handed grab.

In a game where there is no tackling, the offenses seem to be a little more comfortable. And in a quarterback competition trying to replace one of the best ever at Ohio State in Justin Fields, all three QBs have looked sharp.

So far C.J. Stroud has thrown two touchdowns and now true freshman Kyle McCord has joined the party. McCord led the offense down the field efficiently and then hit sophomore Jaxon Smith-Njigba with a nice little fade route in the back corner of the endzone.

Check out the excellent touch from McCord and outstanding concentration from Smith-Njigba for the score. Plays are being made all over the field from the pass-catches of Ohio State. I’d hate to be a defensive coordinator trying to gameplan how to slow down OSU’s passing game this fall.

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Three and out Ohio State football spring game halftime review

The first half of the Ohio State football spring game is in the books and we have already found out a few things. Here are three.

The annual LifeSports Ohio State spring game has kicked off and although the format is different and no tackling will take place, the hype and anticipation is as high as ever. With one of the biggest quarterback battles in Ohio State history taking place, below is some of our notes from the first half, as things will now switch to a different format.

Some of the names and numbers might be different, but so far at least, it looks pretty clear that there is abundant talent and playmaking, most especially in the passing game.

Here is our halftime, three and out review of what we saw during the first half of a beautiful scene of Ohio State playing football in the ‘Shoe with some of the general public in attendance once again.

NEXT … The talent at wide receiver

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WATCH: Ohio State freshman QB Kyle McCord hooks up with 50+ yard bomb to Garrett Wilson

The annual Ohio State spring game is in full force, and already we have a 50-yard plus bomb as freshman Kyle McCord found Garrett Wilson.

The Ohio State three-headed quarterback race between C.J. Stroud, Jack Miller, and Kyle McCord is off and running. We’re seeing it play out in real-time during the 2021 spring game, and there have been moments already from all three.

The biggest of those moments so far has no doubt been the first pass five-star freshman quarterback Kyle McCord unleashed on Saturday. He dropped back, unleashed an arcing laser, and hit a familiar name in double coverage, receiver Garrett Wilson.

Wilson of course helped out with his ability to high-point the ball and catch in traffic, but part of being a quarterback at Ohio State is understanding where to go with the ball to get it to the guys that can make plays. Well done here by McCord to give Wilson a chance to do what he does best on a 54-yard pitch and catch.

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Where is Ohio State football ranked in ESPN’s future top offenses?

ESPN is projecting certain aspects of college football teams’ performances. Next up is the offense, and it has Ohio State among the best.

During the offseason, we’re undoubtedly going to get a lot of rankings and lists to pass the spring and summer doldrums before activity heats up toward the start of a new college football season. We roll our stuff out as well, but ESPN has been taking a look ahead at the next few seasons in its future power rankings pieces by taking into account projected talent because of recruiting, current talent and head coaches. It is specifically designed to look at the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Next up is a top 25 ranking of college football offenses (subscription required) over that period put together by Adam Rittenberg. It’s now an offense-driven game; gone are the days of dominating with defense and an adequate offense. Few teams have embraced all the fun of laser light shows and fireworks on the unit responsible for scoring points, and Ohio State is at, or near the top, of that list.

But where did ESPN and Rittenberg rank the Buckeyes? You might be a little surprised — or not. Here’s where OSU falls in future offensive power according to the worldwide leader in sports programming.

NEXT … Future top 25 ESPN ranking of the Ohio State offense

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Numbers handed out for new Ohio State football freshmen

Numbers have been assigned for early enrollee Ohio State freshmen football players. See what the newcomers will be wearing on the field.

Spring is in the air on the campus of The Ohio State University, which can only mean that spring football is right around the corner for the Buckeyes. The first practice of the new year happened last Friday and now we know what numbers the new guys will wear.

All in all, there are 15 new recruits who have enrolled early for classes on campus so they can begin their Ohio State football careers. And there are some big names in this class.

The Buckeyes signed several No. 1 ranked players at their position. No. 1 ranked running back TreVeyon Henderson will wear No. 32. The No. 1 ranked receiver in the class, Emeka Egbuka will wear No. 12. The Bucks also signed No. 1 rated offensive guard Donovan Jackson, but he was not an early enrollee.

A couple other players of note are defensive end Jack Sawer who will wear No. 33 and quarterback Kyle McCord who will wear No. 14. McCord is expected to compete for the starting QB job vacated by Justin Fields.

Here’s a list of all the rookies and the numbers they will wear heading into spring.

10 — Jayden Ballard, wide receiver

12 — Emeka Egbuka, wide receiver

14 — Kyle McCord, quarterback

18 — Marvin Harrison, wide receiver

21 — Evan Pryor, running back

24 — Jantzen Dunn, safety

28 — Reid Carrico, linebacker

29 — Denzel Burke, cornerback

29 — Jesse Mirco, punter

32 — TreVeyon Henderson, running back

33 — Jack Sawyer, defensive end

65 — Zen Michalski, offensive line

71 — Ben Christman, offensive line

81 — Sam Hart, tight end

91 — Tyleik Williams, defensive tackle

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USA TODAY weighs in on who will replace Justin Fields this fall

Ohio State has to replace Justin Fields this fall and it appears to be a three-man competition. USA TODAY Sports says this guy will win out.

Yes, it’s true Ohio State fans. Justin Fileds off to the NFL and it feels like we all got robbed of what could have been an even better career in Columbus because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, it was fun while it lasted, and now it’s time to look at who his successor might be.

All indications point to a three-man race to replace Fields at the quarterback spot. The coaches have said that it’ll be an open competition between rising sophomores C.J. Stroud and Jack Miller, and the early enrollee, rising freshman Kyle McCord. A lot of times you can look at what happened when things were on the line to see where the early pecking order is, but that could all change when each guy gets his turn to show what he has with all the reps of spring ball and beyond.

The spotlight is now. We dove into handicapping this quarterback derby a little, but we’re not the only ones. In fact, Paul Myerberg from our mothership USA TODAY Sports also took a look at one of the most intriguing and high-profile position battles in all of college football.

Here is what he said.

NEXT … Who Myerberg believes will win the OSU QB competition

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