Oller: Ohio State quarterbacks must work to remain buoyant through the bruises and boos
The face of Ohio State football is its quarterback. He runs the offense, serves as unofficial spokesman for the team and is the most scrutinized athlete, pro or college, in Ohio.
In 1970, Ron Maciejowski saw something wrong with that face when Ohio State teammate Rex Kern showed up at practice with a chalky residue on his lips.
“I was used to getting my ass handed to me every practice, so it didn’t bother me. But Rex? He had Maalox around his lips,” said Maciejowski, who backed up Kern at quarterback from 1968-70.
Kern arrived at Ohio State as a heralded recruit out of Lancaster and rocketed to stardom as a leader of the Super Sophs who helped OSU win the 1968 national championship. Yet by the time Kern left the Buckeyes after the 1970 season, he had developed an ulcer that antacid could only soothe. The only cure was to graduate from the pressure of being an Ohio State quarterback, especially one playing for Woody Hayes.
“Ohio State quarterbacks get pressure not just from fans but from coaches,” Maciejowski said. “And Woody couldn’t control himself. Rex had a severe ulcer by the time he left. As a sophomore you win all your games, then your junior year you win all but the last one (Michigan) and there was no bowl game. It was like Woody had all this pent up emotion, so when Rex would have a problem (his senior year) Woody was all over his ass.”
Enter Kyle McCord into the discussion. It would seem impossible for Ryan Day to get as angry as Hayes did, but the Ohio State coach has chewed out his starting quarterback during both games and practices. Fans have targeted McCord for acclaim (remember Notre Dame?) and abuse all season, but the criticism was especially intense after the 30-24 loss at Michigan.
Nothing new there. When right, an OSU QB becomes mythical. When wrong, he gets unmercifully maligned. Either way, he carries the weight of the world on his shoulder pads. What’s different now, even from 10 years ago, is McCord must answer not only to his coaches but be subjected to rampant ridicule on social media.
“We didn’t have ESPN, didn’t have social media,” Maciejowski said. “I wonder what would have happened to us if we did? But we had Woody Hayes. He was our social media, I guess.”
Cornelius Green followed Kern at quarterback, and while he shared top billing with Archie Griffin, he knew he would receive more criticism than the two-time Heisman winner if things went poorly. For one thing, Green touched the ball on every snap. And the more you touch it, the more that can go wrong. Especially through the air.
“You better have some alligator skin to play quarterback. It has to be thicker than thick,” Green said, recalling how fans and media scrutinized him more than players at other positions.
“I got clobbered after two Rose Bowl losses,” he said. “I don’t care what the defense does, after you lose a game for some reason they go over what the quarterback did every quarter.
“I know what Kyle McCord is feeling now. It’s 11 consecutive weeks of craze … but at Ohio State when you lose a game it’s like the whole world is against you for some reason. I can feel what that kid is going through.”
So can Craig Krenzel, who rose to stardom while leading Ohio State to the 2002 BCS national championship, only to struggle in 2003, at one point sharing duties with Scott McMullen.
“First off, the No. 1 fact you have to know coming in at that level is that’s just the way it goes,” Krenzel said of the pressure facing OSU quarterbacks. “You’re going to catch all the flack when all the things are not going well, and get all the reward and praise when they are.
“My junior year we went 14-0 and won a national title and I was a leader. My senior year we had a more lively passing game, and I sucked and needed to be benched. It’s just the nature of the position. When you play quarterback at any major university, the most popular guy in the city is the backup quarterback.”
Krenzel does not necessarily feel sorry for McCord as much as he thinks the junior got caught in a tough situation not of his own making.
“He’s got some tough shoes to fill,” he said. “We’ve been extremely spoiled by our quarterback play for how many years now? When you get that kind of productivity, and there are big expectations to begin with, then you have the situation Kyle is in. We had C.J. (Stroud) and Justin (Fields), and those are just the last two guys. It’s a tough situation to be in, but you come to a place like this and if you don’t have thick skin it’s going to be a long, long road.”
Right about now, McCord has to be thinking the road runs forever. If it is any solace, he can check history to see that even the best Ohio State quarterbacks took hits … and not just from defensive ends. Kern threw four interceptions in the 1969 Michigan game. Art Schlichter threw five against Penn State in his first start. Even Stroud got criticized for not running enough.
But with the gory comes some glory. Quarterback Bill Long fell into Woody’s doghouse, benched when Kern became a sophomore. But when Kern got hurt against Purdue, Hayes called for Long.
“Bill goes in for one play and runs 14 yards for a touchdown, so now Bill’s the hero,” Maciejowski said. “That’s exactly what we’re talking about. Whatever the moment is, that’s it.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football quarterbacks share stories of ups and downs
