Ohio State has just finished up their spring camp, and the short stretch of practices ended with the first nationally televised spring game. Here’s what we saw.
COLUMBUS, OH– If you’ve got two quarterbacks, you don’t have any at all. Or so it goes. The issue? Ohio State has three. Returner Devin Brown, Kansas State transfer Will Howard, and five-star freshman Julian Sayin are all tied up in a deadlocked competition for QB1 come fall. The theory of diminishing marginal utility speaks to the trio of highly-talented quarterbacks in the room. Not all will stay, and only one will play.
Coming out of Saturday’s spring game, both Ryan Day and Chip Kelly were adamant in stating that they had not made a decision on their starting quarterback yet. They said they’d evaluate the film and move forward in their full-scale test of the three.
“You always want to do it earlier,” said Kelly, the offensive coordinator for the Buckeyes. “But I also believe every time I’ve been involved in this, it kind of happens organically and authentically because the players know. … Players understand who they feel is the guy. And most of the time the decision is very obvious.”
Taking a look at the tape of the spring game, it became evident the direction this offense is headed. It started last year when Kyle McCord was still at the helm. Short throws along with calculated completions. The completion percentage of the three main quarterbacks was high yet deep balls were nowhere to be seen. The team certainly has the firepower on the perimeter with to-be superstar receivers Julian Fleming and true freshman Jerimiah Smith who’s been breaking necks since he joined the Buckeyes for spring camp.
Yet, throughout all the quarterback rotation– points were hard to come by on a windy day in Columbus. It was Devin Brown who finally got an offense on the board with 1:33 to go in the second quarter. Yes, it was almost halftime before Ohio State’s offense earned themselves any points.
Every spring game has its own scoring rules, from third-down stops counting as points to first downs having multipliers– every school runs their ship, their way. Ohio State had traditional scoring rules for the offense while the defense was able to earn points with takeaways, sacks, and three-and-outs. Quarterback play struggled with sophomore quarterback Lincoln Kienholz throwing an ugly interception on a wheel route that seemed open. Freshman Julian Sayin threw another one by not driving the ball to the sideline on an outbreaking route where the receiver had a step on the defender.
By the time the first offensive points were scored, 18 points (6-12) were already on the board by the defense. Looking at the chart below, we can see exactly how each quarterback fared. Granted, whistles were blown early in almost a “thud” tempo type speed for Ohio State’s pace of play.
| Quarterback | Comp. (%) | Yards | TD | INT |
| Will Howard | 9/13 (69.2%) | 77 | 0 | 0 |
| Devin Brown | 5/7 (71.4%) | 66 | 1 | 0 |
| Lincoln Kienholz | 10/17 (58.8%) | 71 | 0 | 2 |
| Julian Sayin | 9/15 (60.0%) | 77 | 0 | 1 |
No quarterback truly stood out from the pack. Kienholz clearly got the most opportunities to throw the ball, but wasn’t the most efficient. Out of the pack, only one threw a touchdown. Howard might’ve been the leader going into Saturday, but at the very least– the competition has tightened up.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m gonna make any declarations right now,” Day said when asked about the starting job. “But we’ll look at the film and see what it looks like. And then, you know, decide where to go from there. But I don’t have much to say about it right now.”
The defense on the other hand looks like one of the best that the Buckeyes have had in years. Reports have stated that the defense has repeatedly and consistently outpaced the offense in terms of performance throughout spring camp. Returning players underlined by Jack Sawyer, Denzel Burke, and Ty Hamilton have gave this red and scarlet unit true reason to believe they may be the best in the Big Ten this year, even with an expanded field.
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“When you look at our defense,” Day said, “when you look at the back end, you look at the front and then those linebackers, I mean, it’s a good-looking group. And you saw that all spring. They’re flying around, they’re getting it. And they all want to play more and show off in this game.”
The Buckeyes’ spring game showed how truly disruptive this unit was. The score was 6-12, all defensive points before the offense even hit the board. It seemed like the quarterbacks had no time, the receivers couldn’t get downfield separation, and turnover after turnover gave the secondary plenty of confidence going into summer workouts. Three interceptions throughout the day for the Buckeyes defense made the statement that this team could be scary.
“I think it’s become an expectation now,” defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said. “Our DBs, you know, are BIA: Best In America.”
Going back to the offense, either they faced the best defense they’ll face this year or they have a lot of work to do. As a team, they were 1-4 on the TD/INT ratio. For any game, that’s a sore statistic. Credit the other side of the ball however, as they played as good as a defense could’ve.
The defensive line looks superb in addition to the rest of the side. With deep depth along with consistent playmakers, the pass rush was getting to the quarterbacks all day. Consistent interruptions with timing helped Ohio State’s defensive showing that much more, allowing for errant throws and bad decisions to help OSU take advantage of turnovers.
“You have to play to your strengths and that’s my job is to see what we have and what we do best,” Knowles said. “When you have defensive tackles that make tackles, which is what we have right now, it changes the way you call a game.”
The Buckeyes also managed to pick up two huge commitments after the spring game. One was four-star tight end Nate Roberts from Oklahoma. A major pickup on offense, he’ll help whatever quarterback that ends up starting with a new target. On the defensive side of the ball, Cody Haddad also verbally committed to the Buckeyes, the in-state safety is another add-on to an already world-class secondary.
