Ryan Day Says Ohio State Staff 'Split' on Kyle McCord, Devin Brown QB Battle

Ohio State's season opener at Indiana is fewer than two weeks away, but the Buckeyes still do not have a starting quarterback.

Head coach Ryan Day told reporters Monday that Kyle McCord and Devin Brown are still competing for the position and that "both have gotten better. But to this point right now, I mean, as honestly as I can say it, there's not one that won the job. There's not one that's lost the job."

The coaching staff is apparently split at this point.

"I asked the staff this weekend after the scrimmage," Day said. "I just took a straw poll and it was almost split right down the middle. So what does that mean? Well, I think that it's going to continue to go on this week and go from there. Is there a chance that both of them could play in the first game? I think the answer is yes, that's a chance. But we're going to keep working. We don't have to make that decision right now."

There are multiple ways for Ohio State fans to look at this.

The glass half-full approach would suggest that both quarterbacks have played so well that there is no wrong answer. Yet the glass half-empty approach would look at McCord, who has been on campus longer as a 5-star prospect in the 2021 class (per 247Sports' composite rankings), hasn't separated himself from Brown despite having more experience in the system.

McCord even started a game against Akron during the 2021 season when C.J. Stroud was sidelined, and he was high school teammates with No. 1 wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.

Everything seemed to favor McCord going into the competition, but he apparently hasn't shown enough to create a gap with Brown, who was a 4-star prospect in the 2022 class.

The Buckeyes do ease into the season with matchups against Indiana, Youngstown State and Western Kentucky, but the schedule gets incredibly difficult from there with road games at Notre Dame, at Wisconsin and at Michigan, as well as a home game against Penn State.

Ohio State has the talent at other positions to compete for a College Football Playoff spot, but it is difficult to see it emerging from one of the most difficult schedules of all the presumed contenders if it doesn't make the correct choice at quarterback.

And that choice still has to be made.