Buckeyes see benefit of QB being settled
Mccord unlikely to be sharing time with Brown
While Ohio State's quarterback competition progressed throughout the spring and summer, teammates acted publicly like Switzerland.
Neutrality was the stance. Whatever they may have felt privately, no one professed a preference for Kyle Mccord or Devin Brown.
But the Buckeyes have a clear starter now that coach Ryan Day has announced that Mccord won the job.
“It's good to have your dude who you're going to be rocking out with most of the snaps,” junior wide receiver Emeka Egbuka said. “Our No. 2 guy is ready as well. We have full confidence in him, and we've got full confidence in the dude who's taking the (first-team) reps. Both are great talents, and we're excited to be moving forward.”
Mccord played almost all of the Indiana game and five of the first six possessions of the Youngstown State game. But Brown got more snaps against the Penguins overall. He had 35 and Mccord 30.
Now Mccord presumably won't be sharing time with Brown, starting with Saturday's game against Western Kentucky, at least when the outcome is in question. That also won't be the case with practice reps. Brown said after the Youngstown State game that the quarterbacks still were splitting time with the first team during workouts.
“You'd be surprised at the limited amount of reps that you do get throughout an entire week,” Egbuka said. “If you really calculate them all up, it's not that many, so you might not get every look you want every single time with the
right quarterback.”
Egbuka was roommates with Mccord during their freshman year. He was impressed with Mccord's calmness before the quarterback started against Akron when C.J. Stroud was injured.
That placidity can be misconstrued. When Egbuka was asked if Mccord had the necessary fire to be a leader, he said that was a non-issue.
“He cares more than just about anybody on the team,” Egbuka said. “He's the last to leave the facility every single day, so he puts in the hours. He (studies) a lot of hours on film. He's a student of the game. He's really smart. That's one of the most impressive things about him.”
The standard for Ohio State quarterbacks is quite high. Dwayne Haskins Jr., Justin Fields and Stroud were Heisman Trophy finalists and first-round NFL draft picks.
Asked if Mccord can reach that level, Egbuka said, “I don't really want to speak on it, but I have an idea of how good I think he could be in my mind. With the work that Kyle has put in, I wouldn't be surprised if he had some pretty impressive accolades over the season.
“We're just going to keep stacking days as a team. He's going to keep playing great football like he's been doing, and at the end of the season, you guys will see where he's at.”
Proctor returns
Josh Proctor is expected to be back for Ohio State's nonconference game against Western Kentucky on Saturday.
“He'll be available,” Day said, “and he'll play a lot.”
After starting at free safety in their season-opening win at Indiana, Proctor was held out of the following week's win over Youngstown State with an apparent ankle or foot injury.