Devin Brown said this week that he views the Cotton Bowl as his opportunity to audition for next year’s starting quarterback job, and Ryan Day seemingly views it the same way.
In an interview with 97.1 The Fan’s Morning Juice on Thursday, Day indicated that Brown will be the starting quarterback for Ohio State’s season finale against Missouri and that Ohio State views the bowl game as an opportunity for Brown to prove he’s ready to be the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback.
“This is a great opportunity for Devin to take over this team and run with it. I know he's very, very excited about that,” Day said.
Regarding Lincoln Kienholz, Day said the Buckeyes are “very excited” about the freshman quarterback and looking forward to seeing how he progresses over the next couple of weeks as Ohio State goes through bowl practices. Developing for the future remains the focus with Kienholz, though, since he’s still in only his first year as a Buckeye.
“Lincoln's a great example of somebody who came in in the summer, and gonna use these bowl practices to to get better,” Day said. “And he's been in a game already. And who knows, we'll kind of see how the game shakes out. But this is a great opportunity for Devin to go take this thing and run.”
“This is a great opportunity for Devin to take over this team and run with it. I know he's very, very excited about that.”– Ryan Day on Devin Brown starting in the Cotton Bowl
Brown is set to make his first career start in the Cotton Bowl after Kyle McCord, Ohio State’s starting quarterback for all 12 of its regular-season games, entered the transfer portal last week.
“I'm pumped. I mean, I can't believe my first start’s going to be in the Cotton Bowl,” Brown said Tuesday. “It's a big stage against a really good team. It's a top-10 matchup. And I'm just excited to go out there and show what I can do.”
Asked about McCord, Day did not specifically address his departure but said there were only a couple of surprises among the 14 Ohio State scholarship players who have entered the transfer portal since the portal window opened. Even with all of those departures, Day is confident about the roster that the Buckeyes will have for 2024.
“We have a really good group of guys that we feel like are coming back next year,” Day said. “Some of these guys have to make some final decisions (on the NFL draft), but I know that if some of these really talented players decide to come back and then we infuse them with the young players that are already in the program and then also guys we’re recruiting, we've got a chance to have a great roster next year.”
