Junior quarterback Kyle McCord (6) shouting a play in then-No. 6 Ohio State’s 17-14 win over then- No. 9 Notre Dame Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor
The last time Kyle McCord said he could remember being rattled in a game was in middle school.
Since then, the junior quarterback said his “physical and mental” toughness has kept stressful situations from getting to him. That level of composure proved to be crucial in the final drive of Ohio State’s 17-14 win against Notre Dame Saturday.
“To go down and put that last drive together was huge,” McCord said. “I think a lot of the questions around me were, ‘Was I built for that moment or not?’ And I think the team rose to the occasion, and it wasn’t just me.”
McCord said his calmness in crunch time came from the team’s preparation leading up to the game.
“I think practice is the toughest look I’ll get, knowing that I’m going up against the best defense in America every single day in practice,” McCord said. “With a minute and 26 seconds left and a timeout, I had all the confidence in the world in our offense. It’s something that we practice a whole lot here, because at the end of the day, that’s really what the game came down to, that last drive.”
Junior wide receiver Emeka Egbuka — McCord’s target on a third-and-19 completion with 15 seconds remaining — said he knew he could rely on his quarterback’s calmness in the final minutes of the game.
“It’s not like he got lucky or anything like that; he’s always that way 24/7,” Egbuka said. “If the offense is shaky or in a tough spot, everybody can look at Kyle, and he’s going to be the most calm person on the field. That’s really encouraging to have, and we all knew that was going to be the case when he took over the starting role.”
Egbuka said he’s been working closely with McCord since the two arrived on campus in 2021, and while McCord has always had poise, he improved that quality while developing in the Buckeye quarterback room.
“That was something that C.J. [Stroud] really excelled at too,” Egbuka said. “So, I think being cool, calm and collected is something that Kyle’s always had, but that was a trait that even grew a little bit as he learned behind C.J. You can always look at Kyle — maybe we get a penalty, we get the intentional grounding or whatever the case may be, we never really wavered because we knew if we just execute and do what we’ve been practicing, we’d be okay.”
McCord said it is “tough not to” hear criticism from outside the program, and he had “something to prove” in the top-10 matchup against Notre Dame, but he didn’t doubt his ability to succeed on the big stage.
“If you’re going to play quarterback at a high level and be in situations like that, I think it’s extremely important to be calm, collected and focused at the task at hand,” McCord said. “That’s something that you have to practice, visualizing the situation before it happens, put yourself in the game, and I think that’s something that just doesn’t happen by accident.”
