Did Buckeyes Win Over Indiana Settle QB Battle?
The Ohio State Buckeyes walked away from Indiana University Memorial Stadium with a win as they defeated the Indiana Hoosiers 23-3, despite getting out to a slow start in their season-opener.
The win provided the first opportunity for the Buckeye faithful to see both of their quarterbacks, Kyle McCord and Devin Brown, play meaningful snaps in their career, and despite the former playing the most of the two, there is still a question of whether the competition is truly settled.
McCord, the offseason favorite to win the job, got the start for Ohio State and played on eight drives of the team's 10 drives; despite everything aside from the interception looking like it went well, there were some noticeable bumps in the road.
“There were definitely some good plays, some things I want to clean up,” McCord said post-game about his performance. “We definitely left some points on the board. We moved the ball pretty well, just a few times in the red zone; you want to get touchdowns rather than field goals.”
McCord's immediate self-evaluation mirrored what coach Ryan Day said in his post-game press conference, pointing to "situational football" and red zone offense as improvement points.
Yet, Day also admitted that he didn't see as much from Brown as he planned, making it seem that the competition isn't over.
While McCord did complete 20 of his 33 passes for 239 yards with an interception, which can be evaluated thanks to the extensive snaps he played, Brown's two drives are not enough, even with him completing just one of his three throws for negative yardage.
That said, it isn't necessarily a surprise that Ohio State seemingly hasn't settled on a starter long-term after just one game, as ESPN's Pete Thamel originally reported the expectation is for the full-time to be named heading into the Week 4 matchup with Notre Dame.
