Team Scarlet did not perform the way Buckeye fans hoped at Saturday’s spring game.
The much-anticipated quarterback competition between sophomore Devin Brown and junior Kyle McCord was put on pause before Ohio State’s spring game, which saw the defense donning gray prevail 40-31 over the offense in scarlet, after Brown underwent “a procedure” on his throwing hand, head coach Ryan Day said Wednesday.
Instead, McCord was alternating time with the graduate Oregon State transfer Tristan Gebbia.
McCord completed 18-of-34 passes for 184 yards and connected with freshman wide receiver Carnell Tate on a 37-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Regarding the ongoing quarterback competition, McCord said both he and Brown “know what it is” and said no announced starter will “push both of us” entering the summer.
“The competition’s been great,” McCord said. “But I think at the end of the day, Devin’s definitely making me better and I think vice versa as well. So even though there’s not a winner of the job yet, I think that benefits both of us.”
Brown said it was “definitely hard” watching from the sideline. He said his injury is “nothing crazy” and he expects to return “in four weeks or so.”
“It’s definitely hard knowing I could have been playing out there,” Brown said. “We were working for it all spring but at the end of the day, I was just happy to be able to cheer on my guys and do what I could.”
The first offensive drive, with McCord at the helm, resulted in a three-and-out and a nearly intercepted pass by sophomore linebacker C.J. Hicks.
In the first half, McCord had completions to junior wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Jayden Ballard. Senior running back Chip Trayanum received a fair amount of passes from both McCord and Gebbia.
Harrison totaled three catches for 62 yards and Ballard had four for 27. Freshman wide receiver Noah Rogers led all Buckeyes with 64 receiving yards, including a 57-yard touchdown reception from Gebbia.
In a second-quarter handoff from Gebbia, Trayanum ran 65 yards for the offense’s first touchdown of the game. Trayanum led Ohio State with 110 rushing yards while sophomore running back Dallan Hayden had a team-high 12 carries, and sophomore running back Chase Brecht also had 47 rushing yards.
Gebbia finished with 127 passing yards across 14 completions.
Similar to last year, the offense wore scarlet and scored the traditional way. The defense wore gray and its scoring was set up as six points for a touchdown, three points for a takeaway, two points for a sack and one point for forcing a punt.
The Buckeyes defense led 26-10 at halftime. Senior linebacker Cody Simon and sophomore cornerback Davison Igbinosun led the team with five first-half tackles, and sophomore defensive end Hero Kanu had two tackles for loss.
“We’ve seen that for almost 15 practices, what you saw today, so that was really good,” Day said. “You can just see the discernment. Everything’s faster. They’re moving faster. They’re seeing it. And I think the being Year 2 in the system, adding Davison in there, you’re starting to see the secondary move faster, make more plays, be more decisive.”
With 5:23 remaining in the third quarter, a Buckeye legend was invited on the field for a snap: Archie Griffin. The former Ohio State running back, who won back-to-back Heisman Trophy winner in 1974-75, ran in a 6-yard touchdown to put six more on the board for Scarlet.
The Buckeyes wrap up their spring slate of practice and enter the summer with a number of intriguing position groups yet to shake out before the 2023 season. Ohio State will begin on the road at Indiana Sept. 2.
“It was about competing,” Day said. “We talked long and hard about how there’s a difference between hard work and competing. Everybody’s working hard. Without it you don’t have a chance, but competing means winning or losing, and so we had a lot of winner-loser.”
