Junior quarterback Devin Brown drops back in the pocket, looking deep. Brown went 5-for-7 and 66 yards in Ohio State’s Spring Game Saturday at Ohio Stadium. Credit: Lily Hynes | Asst. Photo Editor
In a quarterback room featuring five different quarterbacks in contention for the starting job, none stood out above the rest in this year’s rendition of the Spring Game.
Ohio State’s Scarlet team came away with a 34-33 win against the Gray in the annual Spring Game at Ohio Stadium. The five Buckeye quarterbacks accounted for 357 yards and a touchdown Saturday afternoon.
“[Deciding on a quarterback] is tough because there are guys who deserve reps, but they’re all competing for it,” offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said. “We’ll put it together and come up with which guy do we feel is gonna help us move offensively?”
In his two drives against the Gray team, junior quarterback Devin Brown had a solid performance, throwing for 66 yards on just seven attempts, while adding 24 yards on the ground.
In Brown’s final drive of the game just before the half, he and junior wide receiver David Adloph connected on a 25-yard deep ball — the longest reception of the day for the Scarlet.
On the same drive, Brown accounted for Scarlet’s lone passing touchdown, throwing an 11-yard touchdown to sophomore wide receiver Brennen Schramm with just over two minutes left in the half to give the Scarlet a 13-12 lead.
Head coach Ryan Day said having quarterbacks with the ability to run can help diversify an offense, making the defense’s job more difficult as they have to play 11-on-11.
“When you have a quarterback who can run it does change the numbers for us,” Day said. “It’s going to be a weapon for us this year because all of our quarterbacks are athletic enough to do that.”
Graduate quarterback Will Howard started the game and saw two drives in his Buckeye debut. Howard opened the game with three straight completions, including an 18-yard out-route to graduate tight end Gee Scott Jr.
In his second drive, Howard connected with senior wide receiver Emeka Egbuka twice for 15-plus yard first down completions. The second of which, Egbuka hauled in a one-handed 18-yard pass from Howard near the sideline.
Howard finished the afternoon completing an efficient 9-for-13 of his passing attempts for 77 total yards through the air.
Sophomore quarterback Lincoln Kienholz struggled on the afternoon, throwing two interceptions, while getting sacked twice in six drives, leading the team in each category.
Kienholz completed 10 of his 17 passes for 71 yards through the game, most of which were checkdowns. His longest completed pass of the afternoon was just 13 yards.
Day said scheming easy completions is vital to building confidence in his young quarterbacks, crafting pass plays that are similar to long handoffs.
“You try to get into a rhythm for them just to get some completions,” Day said. “It’s all happening so fast, so we want to push the ball downfield by getting the ball out in space to our guys.”
Freshman quarterback Julian Sayin struggled in his first half of action as a Buckeye, throwing a pick to freshman safety Jaylen McClain and completing just three of his six passes.
Sayin was able to get the ball rolling down the stretch of the game, leading the Buckeyes on a drive that resulted in an 8-yard rushing touchdown from freshman running back James Peoples halfway through the third quarter.
Kelly said this class of freshmen quarterback’s ability to retain information and compete is highly impressive, noting that this group of freshmen quarterbacks act like veteran players.
“Julian is a very fast processor,” Kelly said. “He really thinks very quickly on his feet, doesn’t stick on reads, and sees things really well for a young player.”
Freshman quarterback Air Noland got his first chance midway through the third quarter for the Scarlet, immediately scampering for a 16-yard rush and a first down.
Noland finished second on the Scarlet in rushing with 42 yards on just five attempts. He also added 47 yards through the air on seven passing attempts.
Day said much of the quarterback competition is still in the air, with just 15 practices to evaluate, the staff will continue to assess the quarterback room until the season begins.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m going to make any declarations right now,” Day said. “We’ll look at the film and see what it looks like and then go from there.”
The Spring Game was the final of Ohio State’s 15 spring practices. The Buckeyes will return to action in August for the start of fall practice.
