The defending champions begin the new season eager to run the table again, but face a crucial decision: who replaces Will Howard after he has packed his bags for the Pittsburgh Steelers? Look, this season everyone figured that Julian Sayin was the obvious choice, but the competition is fierce. As Lincoln Kienholz and Tavien St. Clair are both throwing their hats in the ring for the starting position, it is leaving Coach Ryan Day with a difficult choice. While the race is tight, Sayin still holds the water as a legit frontrunner. But Coach Day must evaluate things fast, as there’s no room for second-guessing.
So, who has the juice to be the starting QB for Ohio State this season? Well, for now, it’s a two-horse race as Tavien St. Clair is not running that high for the starting role. And let’s be real, he’s a true freshman; even if Tavien is a 5-star recruit, he lacks experience, and he needs to gain that before he is pushed into the fire. And even Ryan Day believes the same thing, as he made his stance clear on ESPN College Football:
“I feel like Julian and Lincoln are ahead of Tavien right now. Tavien’s got a lot of upside, but just a little bit behind, only having 15 practices. Julian has a year in the system; Lincoln too. You know, I said it the other day in the press conference: I feel like Lincoln was ahead of Julian going into the spring game, and I thought Julian had a better spring game than Lincoln. So it’s back and forth.”
Look, that’s a straight fact. Julian Sayin was remarkable this spring, completing 17 out of 24 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown. But even Lincoln Kienholz’s numbers were not bad. This guy completed 12 of 18 passes for 158 yards with 2 TDs. Saying pocket presence is exceptional and that puts him ahead of Lincoln. Now, we look at Tavien’s performance as a backup, even though he stood his ground strong with 11 of 15 passes for 116 yards.
Meanwhile, Lincoln Kienholz stole the show. He commanded the huddle, led two touchdown drives during team periods, and uncorked a 40-yard sideline dime to Carnell Tate that turned heads. While Sayin showed poise under pressure, Kienholz made the splash plays—if you’re keeping score, he clearly made the strongest case that day.
So, that leaves Ryan Day in more confusion, and now only summer camp might give Ohio its starting QB. “This summer is going to be important. I think they’re all going to need each other. You’re not dealing with, you know, a 22- or 23-year-old. Will Howard who, you know, can probably handle 16 games. And so I think they’re all going to need each other. So we have to develop a great room there. And so we’ll see how the summer shakes out.” Coach Day said. Now that they are going to start their season against Steve Sarkisian’s Longhorns, let’s see what Day has to say about them.
Ryan Day’s tough admission on Longhorns
Well, how can people forget about this year’s Cotton Bowl against the Longhorns and Ohio State? Ryan Day’s team didn’t just knock Sark and his boys out of the league, but also ended their playoff hopes with a 28-14 blow. And now it’s time for them to take their perfect revenge, as both of them are going to go up against each other in their season-opening game this year. But do Longhorns really stand a chance against Bucks?
So, Longhorns got 12 of their players drafted this year; that marks a program record in the seven-round era for the most players getting selected in a single draft. But what about the depth? Will Sark be able to give Ryan Day and the team a strong fight after losing his key players?
Well, whatever the case, Ryan Day and team are taking their season opener against Texas pretty seriously, “I mean, the minute we saw that as game one, I mean, you start—it has your attention. They’re a very good team, very well-coached. We knew coming off the field how much respect we had for them as a team. So, we know it’s going to be a bear.” For now, depth isn’t much of a concern for them as Longhorns are 1st nationally and 1st in the SEC in terms of recruiting with 25 commits and just 10 transfers.
Ryan Day also talks about how he is trying to gain others’ experience of going against a strong team. “And so, you know, I went down and visited Clemson with my son and spent a little time with Dabo, talked about, you know, the opener being Georgia for them last year and how, like, that preparation starts, you know, in the summer and that affects everything you do.”
Now comes the interesting part: how are both of them going to hold up with a new team? “It can make for a longer year for sure. But when you have a young team, you know, you have to really be accurate with what you’re doing because, you know, you’re not like dealing with an experienced team that you know what you’re getting. There’s a lot of things that still need to be answered in preseason camp.”
However, there are certain things the Bucks can’t repeat this year. “And you got to go into that game ready to go, tackling well. Like you said, last year, you know, if we missed a few tackles in a couple of those games in game one or two, you get it on film, you grow, and you build working into the next week. You can’t afford to do that in the first week against Texas. I mean, you have to be on your game. So, it certainly makes for a more amped-up summer.” Ryan Day said. So, let’s wait and see how their game is going to turn out.
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