College Football

Kyle McCord named Ohio State's Week 1 starter, but Buckeyes will play 2 QBs

Updated Aug. 29, 2023 12:57 p.m. ET

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Kyle McCord appears to have the inside track in the quarterback competition in Columbus.

The junior was named No. 3 Ohio State's starting quarterback for its 2023 season-opening matchup against Indiana, coach Ryan Day announced on Tuesday. However, backup Devin Brown will also get some playing time during Saturday's game, Day told reporters.

"I think that's significant that we have two guys that we feel confident playing in the game," Day said. "This is something that's a little unchartered territory for me, but you just go on what you see every day in practice. I think that Kyle's consistency the last couple of weeks has allowed him to be the starter."

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Following C.J. Stroud's departure for the NFL, McCord was viewed by many as the favorite for the starting job. But Day has insisted for much of the offseason that there was a strong competition going on between McCord and Brown for the job as he refused to name a starter for any of the team's games until Tuesday.

"You would like to have somebody who's the quarterback to play the whole game," Day told reporters on Aug. 21. "But for me to say, ‘Hey, this guy should just play the whole game and the other one shouldn't,’ that's not the right thing to do right now, because they both deserve to play at this point."

The two-quarterback approach to start the season isn't uncommon in college football. Last season, Michigan alternated starting quarterbacks for the first two games of the season before naming J.J. McCarthy as its starter over Cade McNamara.

"I just don't have a crystal ball on this and I'm not sure how it is going to shake out," Day said. "But, I think what we're doing is fair based on what we see in this preseason."

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McCord, a five-star recruit in the class of 2021, has completed 41 of 58 passes for 606 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions over his brief appearances in the last two seasons. Brown, a five-star recruit in the class of 2022, redshirted last season. 

Ohio State will have a pair of out-of-conference matchups at home in the two weeks following its season opener, hosting Youngstown State and Western Kentucky, prior to traveling to South Bend to take on No. 13 Notre Dame. 

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CFB - Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Indiana Hoosiers - 09/02/2023