Two months into the season a pattern of development has taken shape for Kyle McCord.
It hasn’t been a linear one. In most of his games as Ohio State’s first-year starting quarterback, the Pennsylvania native has taken his share of lumps scattered amongst his best throws that showcase his potential.
“From Week 1 to Week 7, looking at it from the grand scheme of things, I feel like, personally I’ve just gotten more comfortable,” McCord said. “More comfortable in the system, more comfortable in my leadership role, just more comfortable in all facets of the game. At the same time, as good as it is that we’re 7-0, I think there’s so much room for improvement for not only myself, but the offense and the team. I think that’s exciting.”
The Notre Dame game, Ohio State’s top-10 road win to couple with last week’s top-10 home win, is a prime example of such a trajectory.
McCord and the Buckeyes offense as a whole faced an uphill battle most of the game. McCord completed 56.8% of his throws for 240 yards and zero touchdowns. But when he trotted back onto the field with 1:26 remaining, needing to lead his team 65 yards to steal a 17-14 win, he was at his finest.
Completions that drive included a 4th-and-7 toss over the middle that hit Julian Fleming in stride to keep Ohio State’s hopes alive and a 3rd-and-19 dart between three defenders to get the squad down to Notre Dame’s 1-yard line, setting up a 1-yard game-winning plunge from Chip Trayanum.
McCord’s shown he can make smart decisions and great throws. It’s just a matter of doing it on a down-to-down basis.
“That’s just what it comes down to,” Ryan Day said. “Being consistent, trusting your feet, trusting your eyes and then making the routine plays routinely. And then taking care of the football. I think there’s definitely been times when we’ve done that, and when we do, the offense is rolling. So we’ll just keep working on that, and like I just mentioned with Carson (Hinzman), the goal is that we’re playing our best football here in the next month.”
Day believes everything begins with good reps in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
“It starts with practice, being consistent in practice and building that confidence,” he said. “As coaches, we’ve got to continue to put them in situations where the game is almost easier than practice, and that’s where it starts. And then you build the confidence, seeing the look, seeing the throws, making the throws consistently.”
In Ohio State’s next game against Maryland, McCord started 2-for-7 with just 14 yards through the air. That rough opening contrasted with a fourth quarter in which he went 8-for-9 with 116 yards and two touchdowns. The Buckeyes’ lead climbed from 20-17 to 37-17 by the time the game went final.
“You can see what’s out there,” Day said. “The possibilities are there. It’s there, we’ve got to go do it. And if we’re going to make this run here, we’re going to need to do that.”
The Buckeyes’ second top-10 victory over Penn State last Saturday is one of the more prime examples of McCord both flashing his potential and showing that he has room to grow.
His final stat line was a decent one. McCord went 22-of-35 (62.9%) for 286 yards and one touchdown, connecting with star receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. 11 times on 16 targets for 162 yards and a score.
Sprinkled in there were a number of inaccurate balls, though, including a way-wide-right throw to Harrison on an open slant route that looked to be an easy interception had the 6-foot-3 Harrison not extended one of his long arms and knocked the ball away.
“The possibilities are there. It’s there, we’ve got to go do it. And if we’re going to make this run here, we’re going to need to do that.”– Ryan Day on Kyle McCord and Ohio State's offense
After three completions to his former high school teammate on Ohio State’s opening drive, McCord and Harrison failed to connect on the wideout’s next five targets before they synced up on each of their next eight attempts the rest of the way.
“Regardless of what any coach has to say or what the outside world has to say, nobody’s going to be harder on myself than I am,” McCord said. “I’m my own biggest critic. I know if this team is going to accomplish the things that we want to accomplish, I know I have to take my game to the next level.”
One of his biggest critiques of himself came on a near-disaster play. In a 3-3 game early in the second quarter, Ohio State possessed the ball at Penn State’s 26-yard line. McCord dropped back and looked for Harrison over the middle but he was covered, so he started to scramble to his left in what he said was an attempt to get out of the pocket and throw the ball away and set up a field goal.
Instead, he was hit by Penn State linebacker Curtis Jacobs, which forced a fumble that Jacobs scooped up and ran all the way back the other way for a touchdown. Fortunately for the Buckeyes, the reason Harrison wasn’t open is because he was held on the play, negating the fumble return and instead giving Ohio State a first down. Miyan Williams scored a touchdown on a 2-yard run later that drive to put OSU up 10-3 when it was almost down by the same margin.
After a review, the touchdown is taken back after holding was called on Penn State pic.twitter.com/eAciJgNbeh
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 21, 2023
“That’s one of the hardest things to replicate in practice because obviously the defense isn’t really allowed to touch you or tackle you in practice,” McCord said. “Then once you get in a game, I think you kind of have to see, almost, where you’re at in terms of making those plays. I think there’s been times this year where I’ve done and then there’s been times where I should’ve been smarter, just taking a sack. I think, right now, I have a pretty good balance of where I am, I definitely learned my lesson from last week and just continued to grow upon that.”
Leadership and an all-around drive to score more points are the biggest areas that McCord said he is working on right now.
“I think the biggest thing playing quarterback here is just being a leader, getting all the guys on the same page,” McCord said. “Rallying the troops when things aren’t going great and we’re kind of spinning our tires, getting the guys going. But then I think, just from a performance standpoint, just putting points on the board for this offense and whatever I need to do (to do that).”
As the season wears on and McCord sees more action, he’s becoming more comfortable and confident as the team’s signal caller. The hope is that with those things comes the consistency he and the offense seek.
“The more reps I get, the more comfortable I am, the more I know, the more I see,” McCord said. “I felt like in all aspects of the game, just the more games I’m playing the more opportunity to better (myself).”
McCord and the Buckeyes get another chance to build on their progress in a hostile environment at Wisconsin on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
