Ohio State third-year quarterback Kyle McCord (6) is ready for a chance at the starting job after sitting behind C.J. Stroud for two years. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Lantern File Photo
Quarterback Kyle McCord made the earliest of his impacts as a first-year during the 2021 season.
During Week 4, when then-starting quarterback C.J. Stroud rested his shoulder injury, McCord stepped up and earned the first and only start of his career so far. After his first two passes were incomplete, McCord threw his first of two touchdowns on a five-yard pass to former wide receiver Chris Olave during the Buckeyes’ second drive on the way to finishing with 319 passing yards in the 59-7 win against Akron Sept 25, 2021.
More than a season later, McCord finds himself encapsulated in Ohio State’s latest quarterback competition, and he said he still looks back on his first start over a year ago for confidence and motivation in himself.
“You can prepare for different defenses, but at the end of the day when the ball is put down, and you’re in there, you’re going to have to deal with some stuff on the fly,” McCord said. “Getting that experience was good, making some good plays and making some bad plays and learning from it, I think, really helped me, especially at that point so early in my career. I think it’s very important experience to get.”
McCord and first-year quarterback Devin Brown will compete this spring for Ohio State’s starting position come the 2023 season. Both potential starters said Tuesday they’re “bringing the best out” of one another after the first of 15 spring practices leading to the spring game.
For Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, native McCord, he has an opportunity to show who he really is.
Head coach Ryan Day said Feb. 1 he wants a quarterback who is tough and can lead a roster of football players. Throwing touchdowns and converting on third-and-long chances will come, but other intangible ways of impressing the coaching staff and earning the starting spot are present.
“Naturally opportunities to step up and lead and speak, things like that came,” McCord said. “Definitely something I was trying to be a little conscious of early on in the winter, and then over time, it just became second nature.”
A chance to succeed Stroud, who McCord has looked up to and shadowed as his backup the past two seasons, is opportunity enough.
McCord said it’s been a “natural transition” embracing a new spotlight as Stroud, who was named a Heisman Trophy finalist twice and as many times the Big Ten’s Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year, declared for the NFL Draft in January. This left the Buckeyes without an incumbent starter — but left McCord with a wealth of knowledge many won’t be able to find elsewhere.
“I learned a lot from C.J., on and off the field, physical, mental, everything,” McCord said. “It was interesting being able to spend my first two years with him, and he was great about it, open about everything. If I had a question, there was never any hesitation to ask him, and he was always completely honest with me and gave me lots of good advice, so that’s something I’m extremely thankful for.”
McCord has appeared in 12 games across two seasons at Ohio State, primarily as Stroud’s backup and the Buckeyes’ late-game signal-caller with the outcome largely already in hand. Despite playing seven games last season, McCord had more passing attempts during the 2021 season with 38 compared to 20.
It’s often said the goal of practice is to make it harder than a live game, but in Day’s eyes, he said he’s seen McCord welcome that challenge since he arrived.
“He’s grown, and I think he’s done a good job of it,” Day said. “His attitude has been excellent. He’s very hard-working, so now it’s time to go put it on the field and compete.”
Whoever the emerging starting quarterback will be, they’ll have bountiful options at wide receiver to throw to.
Second-year wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. — who played with McCord at St. Joseph’s Prep High School — and Emeka Egbuka combined for 2,414 receiving yards and 24 touchdowns last season. Fourth-year tight end Cade Stover and third-year wide receiver Julian Fleming also return for additional seasons at Ohio State, leaving the Buckeyes with a host of experience and athleticism among targets to pick from.
“I think that’s one of the deepest positions we have on this team, and I think the young guys are stepping up quite nicely,” McCord said. “I think it gives other guys a chance to step up and make some plays, and already on the first day they’ve shown that they can. But I’ve been throwing with all the guys all offseason, so I think we really haven’t missed a beat.”
Many haven’t seen too much of what McCord can or is challenged to do in Big Ten play. It’s important to remember that last time Ohio State had a quarterback competition, the Buckeyes chose a gunslinger who’d yet to throw a pass at the college level.
That won’t matter too much for McCord, or too much for quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis and the Buckeyes.
“It’s not just tough for a quarterback. It’s tough for every position. Guys want to come in and they want to play,” Dennis said Feb. 1. “On the flip side, as a player, you have to internally look at it and you say, ‘Alright, what do I need to do that when my opportunity comes that I’m ready to maximize on it?’”
What McCord brings to the Buckeyes is a 6-foot-3, 222-pound frame with two seasons around Ohio State and its offensive play style.
The first spring practice is over and done with, and soon the second and third will come and reveal plenty about Ohio State’s quarterback competition and McCord, who wants to let his performance answer any criticism or praise looming over him.
“I guess time will tell, to be honest,” McCord said. “I could sit up here and say what I want to do and what I want to accomplish, but at the end of the day, I think the film will speak for itself when that time comes.”
