Devin Brown is Ohio State’s next man up at quarterback to begin the 2024 season.
Ryan Day said Tuesday that Brown will be Ohio State’s No. 2 quarterback behind Will Howard for the Buckeyes’ season opener against Akron on Saturday.
Day had said on August 15, the same day he named Howard the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback, that Brown would be the backup quarterback if the season began that day. However, Day left the door open at that time for freshman quarterback Julian Sayin to still win the backup quarterback job, saying that he “for sure” remained in the mix for that position.
If all goes according to plan in Saturday’s season opener, a game the Buckeyes are favored to win by 50 points, Ohio State should have the opportunity to get both Brown and Sayin in the game for some second-half reps once Howard and the first-team offense have built a comfortable lead.
Day said he and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly have also discussed the possibility of getting Brown in the game earlier to give him more experience with the first-team offense, but Day said they are not planning to do that in the first game of the season.
Brown, a third-year Buckeye, spent most of the preseason competing with Howard for the starting quarterback job after making his first career start in the Cotton Bowl to end the 2023 season. He’ll begin 2024, however, in the same place on the depth chart where he spent most of the 2023 season as Kyle McCord’s backup.
Although he came up short in the competition with Howard, who was always the frontrunner to start at quarterback this season after starting 28 games over the last four years at Kansas State, Brown has drawn praise from Ryan Day for his development in his third offseason in Columbus.
“Devin has shown the ability to do just about everything we’ve asked him to do,” Day said on August 15. “It’s the consistency part and taking care of the football part that he’s just got to make sure that he does a great job of moving forward. If he can do that, he can play and be a contributor.”
