In the final week of Ohio State’s fall camp, TreVeyon Henderson noticed something different about Kyle McCord.
After weeks of a pressure-filled quarterback competition with Devin Brown to win the Buckeyes’ starting gig, McCord started to lower his guard and display the traits his high school coaches in Philadelphia always saw from him: Calm, cool and collected.
“The last week of camp, I just noticed something different about him, man,” Henderson told reporters on Wednesday. “He came in more confident, more relaxed, I just saw that grow each and every week. He’s getting more comfortable in leading this offense.”
After an up-and-down season debut against Indiana, McCord bounced back and played well enough to effectively cement the starting job outright a week later against Youngstown State. Fresh off the confidence of Ryan Day naming him the full-time starter, McCord turned in the best game of his career last week against Western Kentucky, completing 19 of 23 passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns. Not only was his pocket presence and arm talent well-received by his teammates, but his leadership was, too.
“I feel like it’s all about a balance, I think you want to have enough composure to where if something doesn’t go our way or whatever, you’ll have a calm sense about you and the guys know we’ll be alright and work it out,” McCord said of how he approaches his on-field demeanor. “But you also want to have that fiery, competitive side to you as well and push the guys and continue to lead in that way.”
McCord and Ohio State’s offense know everything gets ramped up on Saturday. The No. 6 Buckeyes face by far their toughest opponent of the year in No. 9 Notre Dame in a road contest in South Bend. Not only will McCord have to contend with facing talented Notre Dame cornerbacks Benjamin Morrison and Cam Hart, he’ll have to do so in a hostile environment, the likes of which he’s never played in before.
But Ohio State is confident in McCord’s ability to deliver in such circumstances, with his teammates proudly vouching for him as the right man for the job.
“Kyle handles pressure pretty well,” Henderson said. “That’s what I like about Kyle. He’s never folding, he’s never panicking. He’s always calm and relaxed even when things aren’t going our way. He’s a great leader.”
"I feel like the whole offense needs to band together as one,” left guard Donovan Jackson said. “It will be a primetime road game, which is exciting. Having Kyle as a vocal leader will help us lock in."
Once he settled on McCord as a starter, Day wanted to test his junior quarterback by seeing how he’d conduct a two-minute drill against Western Kentucky. Taking over near midfield with 28 seconds before halftime, McCord engineered a three-play, 58-yard drive that included a long completion to Cade Stover and a 14-yard touchdown pass to Emeka Egbuka with eight seconds remaining.
"He's done a really good job,” Stover said of McCord. “Like anybody in the world, once you know that you're our guy, it's natural that you become more of a leader... Last week was really good for him and really good for the team. He is starting to hit his stride at the right time, and hopefully we are starting to hit ours."
Day praised McCord’s handling of that drive in the postgame press conference and has expressed confidence in his quarterback throughout Notre Dame week, saying he expects the offense to “let it rip” on Thursday. It was almost echoing comments McCord made on Wednesday, when he said Ohio State would “let it fly” against Notre Dame. Considering the Fighting Irish are holding opponents to 2.9 yards per carry in the running game, letting it rip could indeed be the Buckeyes’ best path to victory.
“They’re talented across the board, there’s no position that I think they’re weak in and they have a bunch of experience,” McCord said of Notre Dame’s defense. “They’ve been in the system for a couple of years and they’re well-coached. In film, they don’t have many breakdowns or let guys run free. They make you earn every yard you get. So I’m excited for it.”
Part of McCord’s success has stemmed from consistently connecting with Ohio State’s best offensive weapon, who happens to be his former high school teammate: Marvin Harrison Jr.
Two days before OSU’s season debut at Indiana, McCord and Harrison Jr.’s high school offensive coordinator Tom Sugden told Eleven Warriors the pair “had a chemistry I’ve never seen before.” While Harrison Jr. only had two catches for 18 yards against the Hoosiers, that chemistry has been evident the last two weeks, as Harrison Jr. has caught 12 passes for 286 yards with three touchdowns since then.
If OSU hopes to secure a top-10 win against Notre Dame for the second year in a row, continuing to keep No. 18 involved is a must.
“He’s very calm and collected,” Harrison Jr. said of McCord. “He’s not gonna let the pressure get to him. He prepares harder than anybody else. He’s definitely mentally prepared. And obviously, he has the ability. So he just has to go out there and trust himself.”
McCord is roughly 24 hours away from playing in the biggest game of his life, but true to his level-headed nature, his Friday won’t be too stressful. That’s because he says he utilizes the final day before gameday to watch the final bits of film of his opponent for the week and once he feels the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed, he’ll hang out with his teammates for the remainder of the evening. He expects his preparation throughout the whole week will lead to results taking care of themselves, even on the biggest stage.
“Now that I have three games under my belt, you know what you’ll need to do during the week to give you a step ahead,” McCord said Wednesday detailing his pregame preparation. “I think you use that experience, shape your week and every single minute is mapped out and calculated. That’s helped me get into a routine.”
