One Touchdown Run, One Costly Fumble and One Big-Time Throw Define Devin Brown's Unexpected Appearance in Ohio State's Win Over Purdue

Devin Brown saw meaningful snaps past Week 2 in his redshirt freshman season for Ohio State, and it wasn’t due to anything wrong with Kyle McCord.

Four weeks after McCord was officially named the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback by Ryan Day, Brown got his opportunity to play outside garbage time in a new red zone package that featured him at quarterback.

“Devin is doing everything for the first time, just like Kyle was doing (at the start of the season),” Day said. “I’m glad we were able to do that in this moment here, get him going with that. It was good he took a couple of shots (from the defense). I’m sure he’ll be sore.”

Those packages combined with a pretty passing highlight after he replaced McCord full-time in a blowout against the Boilermakers – even if there were some lumps along the way – added a new wrinkle to Ohio State’s offense and should help to serve Brown’s development.

“He got some good time today, and I thought he did a really good job with it,” McCord said. “He was a threat with his feet, and then he made a really sweet pass there at the end. I think that’s just the type of player he is. He’s a complete quarterback.”

The thought to play Brown in Saturday’s contest started with a check of the West Lafayette weather forecast.

Ohio State slogged to a 21-7 win at Northwestern last season in a game that featured wind gusts over 30 miles per hour. Day wanted to learn his lesson from those struggles.

“We started off with the weather,” Day said. “Just looking, it was rain, it was wind and we certainly didn’t want the same situation that happened last year. We wanted to make sure that we had a good plan.”

Brown had been repping out of such looks every week, he stated, but in the run-up to the Buckeyes’ bout with the Boilermakers, the coaching staff made it seem more and more realistic that he'd play a meaningful role on Saturday.

“I knew going into this week that that was going to be a possibility, and they just kept hammering me to protect the ball and get ready to go,” Brown said.

His opportunity came in the first quarter.

As Ohio State faced 3rd-and-1 at Purdue’s 13-yard line, McCord trotted off the field and Brown ran into the huddle, his No. 33 jersey easily spotted by those in attendance.

Brown took a snap and ran to his left, finding plenty of space around the end and knifing forward for a gain of 8 yards.

Two plays later, from the 2-yard line, Brown got a designed run to the right side this time and trucked over Purdue linebacker Clyde Washington for a touchdown.

Another @OhioStateFB TD this time by @dbrownqb33.

: Peacock pic.twitter.com/6v0Iq1rDJ9
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 14, 2023

“Devin is very explosive with his feet,” Day said. “He’s strong. He’s big. He’s powerful. He’s athletic. We feel like he gives us a little bit of something there. He also throws the ball really well, but that (package) is something that we’ve looked at, we’ve been working on a little bit. We felt like this was the right time, on the road, to do that. I think it did give us something to equate numbers in the red zone.”

Brown stated that it was a confidence boost to aid his squad in such a spot, expanding Ohio State’s 6-0 lead to 13-0 at the time.

“It’s always a good feeling to go out there and help your teammates, especially (when you) score,” Brown said.

“Devin is very explosive with his feet. He’s strong. He’s big. He’s powerful. He’s athletic. We feel like he gives us a little bit of something there."– Ryan Day

Brown’s second trek onto the field didn’t go as smoothly.

After McCord led the offense 65 yards from its own 28-yard line to Purdue’s 7-yard line, Brown entered for 1st-and-goal. Ohio State tried switching things up and went play action, but Brown’s pass intended for Gee Scott Jr. in the right flat was almost intercepted as it fell incomplete.

A run was dialed up for Brown the following play and he found room once again, diving toward the end zone, but a hit from Purdue defensive back Markevious Brown jarred the ball from his grasp just before he crossed the goal line.

“Just didn’t bolt it up,” Brown said. “Helmet went right on the ball. Guy was underneath me and it popped right out.”

The @BoilerFootball defense had quite the stop with this play.

: Peacock pic.twitter.com/FBlTHFPs4d
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 14, 2023

Brown saw action on one more play in the first half, entering on 1st-and-goal for Ohio State from the 4-yard line and rushing for no gain before McCord came back in on 2nd-and-goal and tossed a touchdown to Cade Stover on 3rd-and-goal.

After that, Brown didn’t rep again until mop-up duty for McCord. He still left a mark while performing those janitorial obligations, however.

Freshman wide receiver Brandon Inniss lined up in the slot and ran a go route toward the sideline on a 3rd-and-4 with less than eight minutes to play.

In an aggressive move, Brown turned and lofted the ball in Inniss’ direction. The risk paid off. Inniss caught a well-placed ball over his shoulder, stopped on a dime, cut inside and dashed the final 26 yards of a 58-yard touchdown.

“As soon as I saw it was cover zero, I saw Brandon right there and just made a good play,” Brown said.

The Freshman does it! @Brandon1inniss x @OhioStateFB

: Peacock pic.twitter.com/6vFzv2bXa1
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 14, 2023

It was both the first catch and first touchdown of Inniss’ career.

“I thought he threw a nice ball,” Day said. “They loaded up the box, we took a shot down there to Brandon – that was good to get it under his belt, to make that throw. That was a big-time throw. We’ll keep looking at it, keep building his package.”

Despite the explosion and accuracy involved in the Inniss touchdown, Brown actually got more enjoyment out of his 2-yard plunge on the ground, he stated.

“It was my first rushing touchdown in college and it felt good to lower my shoulder and get one in,” Brown said.

Time will tell if Ohio State continues using Brown as a wrinkle. It will be interesting to monitor his development for the rest of this season.