Ohio State Buckeyes' Ryan Day Drops Evasive Update on QB Battle

Ohio State Buckeyes coach Ryan Day delivered an update on the team's quarterback competition in camp, and let's just say his answer was pretty evasive.

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day leads the first football practice of the season at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on July 31, 2025. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Ohio State Buckeyes opened fall camp on Thursday, and while there are plenty of things to watch in practice, most everyone has zeroed in on the quarterback competition.

Julian Sayin was largely viewed as the favorite to win the job shortly after the 2024 campaign concluded, but since then, Lincoln Kienholz has closed the gap, so much so that head coach Ryan Day said back in the spring that the two signal-callers were neck and neck.

Well, Day provided a bit of an update on the quarterback battle following Ohio State's first practice, and he honestly did not give anyone much to work with.

“It’s just a start,” Day told reporters. “We’re just getting moving around. So, hard to tell. I do think all three of them (Sayin, Kienholz and Tavien St. Clair) look a little bit stronger, a little bit more explosive. Moving better. A little bit more command of the huddle. But we’ll watch the film and kind of go from there. Day one without pads, it’s kind of hard (to evaluate).”

While St. Clair is involved, the chances of him winning the starting job are basically zero. This is a fight between Sayin and Kienholz, and while Sayin may have seemed like the heavy, conclusive favorite back in February, things changed in March, and they apparently haven't been altered since.

Sayin will genuinely have to scratch and claw to find himself under center against Texas during the season opener, and even though he should probably still be viewed as the most likely candidate to win the competition, there are obviously no guarantees at this point.

Now, to be fair to Day, it legitimately was just the first day of camp, so he clearly has to take more time to see how things unfold.

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