Ohio State football mailbag: Will Kyle McCord remain Buckeyes' starting QB in 2024?
Ohio State is in limbo.
Following a loss at archrival Michigan on Saturday, the Buckeyes are left with an uncertain postseason fate.
If enough chaos unfolds over the conference championship weekend, they might backdoor into the College Football Playoff for a second straight season.
But it’s a narrow path, and the Buckeyes, who were sixth in the penultimate CFP rankings this week, are more likely to end up in another New Year’s Six bowl game.
In the meantime, let’s look back on last weekend in Ann Arbor and assess things with the regular season in the rearview mirror. Questions were submitted by The Dispatch’s subscriber text group and lightly edited for length and clarity.
Is the quarterback position open for competition, or is Kyle McCord the quarterback for 2024?
McCord should be considered the frontrunner to remain behind center based on his debut season as the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback. Though he wasn’t an instant Heisman Trophy finalist like his immediate predecessors, it was a strong start.
Here are the passing numbers from 12 games:
65.8% completion percentage
3,170 yards
24 touchdowns
6 interceptions
161.64 QB rating
McCord ranked 15th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in passing efficiency and was in the top 30 in the other categories nationally during the regular season. Just six other OSU quarterbacks have posted higher pass efficiency marks for a season.
Keep in mind McCord did not win the starting job outright over Devin Brown until Week 3. It was a closer competition than when C.J. Stroud or Justin Fields took hold of the top spot on the depth chart. Could Brown push to unseat him as the starter this offseason? It would certainly seem possible.
Outside of that scenario, the odds are in favor of McCord being QB1 as a senior.
Coach Ryan Day has not looked for a starting quarterback out of the transfer portal since Fields in 2019, preferring to develop passers out of high school, and there are four signal callers in line to be on scholarship next year.
That’s why McCord should be seen as the favorite to continue as the starter.
Is anyone else thinking about going to the playoffs, and how OSU would get there? How about Georgia, (Michigan), and Washington win, FSU & Texas lose? Are our beloved Buckeyes in the playoffs? I know it's far-fetched, but I believe that is the only way, otherwise, it’s the Orange Bowl vs. Louisville. I would not be mad, just disappointed that we haven't been able to break through with some of the best players in the history of Ohio State on the roster.
I outlined the narrow path earlier this week, and that’s basically it. If you’re looking for the Buckeyes to be back in the playoff, then Florida State must fall from the ranks of the unbeaten in the ACC championship game.
Ohio State is then among a cluster of teams with 11-1 records outside the top four looking to sneak in. The others include No. 5 Oregon, No. 7 Texas and No. 8 Alabama. Wins by the Longhorns and Crimson Tide in their conference title games could allow them to surpass the Buckeyes. If the Ducks beat No. 3 Washington in the Pac-12, would the Huskies, dealt only their first loss, stay ahead of the Buckeyes? That’s what happened when TCU suffered its first loss in the Big 12 championship game last December.
Suffice to say, the Buckeyes need a bit of help this weekend, circumstances that are different than last year when they really needed only the result of the Pac-12 championship game to go in their favor.
Wondering was there anything new OSU showed – offensively or defensively – that UM was not expecting? Like UM's halfback pass or QB wildcat. What chances or risks did Day take in order to win the game?
Michigan acting head coach and offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore had a few wrinkles for The Game. The Wolverines’ longest play from scrimmage came off running back Donovan Edwards' 34-yard pass to tight end Colston Loveland at the start of the fourth quarter. Backup quarterback Alex Orji jolted a drive that resulted in a field goal early in the third quarter.
Did Day take the same shots? Not to that extent. A lot of the scrutiny has centered on his decision not to go for it on two fourth-down plays in the first half. OSU faced a fourth-and-1 at its 46-yard line in the first quarter before punting and a fourth-and-2 at the Wolverines’ 34-yard line before attempting a 52-yard field goal. Had Brown not injured his ankle against Penn State and aggravated it soon after his return three weeks later, I wonder if Day might have used him in those spots.
Just can't get over the field goal decision before halftime. Why voluntarily kill your own momentum for a field goal attempt that was a tossup at best?
In defending the decision, Day said he wanted to get points before halftime, and the idea was that a field goal would have left the Buckeyes trailing by only a 14-13 score. Effectively tied. But sophomore Jayden Fielding had never even attempted a field goal longer than 47 yards, a career-long he made the previous week at Minnesota. It seemed like a tall order in a game of such magnitude.
With 1:05 left in the game, why not fair catch the kickoff and get the ball on the 25 versus catch and run to the 20, and use 5 seconds? Isn't that a special teams coach fail?
Ohio State was taking a gamble with Xavier Johnson returning the kickoff before its last drive, and to this point, it didn’t pay off. As you mentioned, had Johnson signaled for a fair catch, it would have allowed Ohio State to take possession at its 25-yard line instead of the 19-yard line while preserving 5 seconds of clock.
Johnson’s longest kickoff return was for 32 yards at Notre Dame in September, a return that allowed the Buckeyes to begin a drive at their 35-yard line in the third quarter of that game. But it wasn’t worth the tradeoff at Michigan. The remaining seconds were too valuable, especially without any timeouts left.
Do you think special teams deteriorated as a whole over the last quarter to half of the season, and if so, what tough choices are necessary to turn things around?
Special teams has been a concern for the Buckeyes since late season when they called for a fake punt against Michigan only for long snapper Mason Arnold to hike the ball to punter Jesse Mirco instead of one of the upbacks.
Then there were plays this fall when John Ferlmann, who followed Arnold as the long snapper, botched a snap against Maryland and Mirco ran unsuccessfully on a fake punt at Rutgers that was chalked up to a miscommunication.
There was not a major blunder Saturday, but in addition to Johnson’s ill-advised return, there was also an illegal formation on a punt.
But these sorts of issues have persisted for Parker Fleming's unit.
I am surprised that I have seen no mention of the drop-off in experience from Kevin Wilson to Brian Hartline as offensive coordinator affecting the offense this season. Do you agree that is a significant factor to be considered?
The experience of Wilson, who was brought in as the offensive coordinator in 2017 and remained through last season before leaving for a head-coaching job at Tulsa, was a big asset.
Wilson was at Northwestern two decades ago when the spread offense took root in the Big Ten. That gave him a wealth of knowledge and good perspective while in the booth during games.
The Buckeyes’ coaching staff on the offensive side of the ball skews young. Four out of the five assistants are 40 years old or younger. They added former NFL coach Joe Philbin as an analyst to supplement that. But Wilson's offensive acumen had been valuable.
Is Ryan Day on the hot seat?
Day’s job security was bound to be a question after a third straight loss to Michigan, but that isn’t the reality. Athletic director Gene Smith said in an interview with The Dispatch in the summer that Day was not in that situation at all and referred to him as “our coach for the future.”
An 11-1 season, even with the Buckeyes’ sole defeat coming against their bitter rival, is unlikely to change that. On the FOX broadcast, Urban Meyer mentioned that Day was “under fire,” but not the hot seat, and that distinction seems right.
“You just feel for the families.” Meyer added, “You feel for Ryan Day's family. But it's a big-boy business. He's a big boy. He'll handle it, come back, and you know what, go back in January, get back to work, find a way to beat the Wolverines.”
Do you think The Game is more important to Ryan Day? His comment after The Game was that he understands how important this game is to so many people. Not to parse words but shouldn't he have said it is important to him and the team?
No one feels the stakes of winning and losing The Game more than the Buckeyes coach, and that includes Day. With that postgame comment, my impression is that he is trying to be respectful to the generations of fans who have invested their emotions in this rivalry.
This is what Day said in the buildup to kickoff about its magnitude, “You learn quickly when you’re here. Each year, you learn more and it has more of a significant impact on you as a person. All of our guys when they come here, whether it’s a coach or a player, they’re here for one reason, to win that game. My youngest daughter doesn’t know any place other than Ohio, so this means the world to me and my family.”
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Follow him on Facebook and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. He can also be contacted at jkaufman@dispatch.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football mailbag on Kyle McCord, Ryan Day and Michigan loss
