Redshirt freshman Devin Brown started the Cotton Bowl but exited with an injury in the second quarter, and true freshman Lincoln Kienholz looked overwhelmed in his place as the Buckeyes lost 14-3 to Missouri last Friday night.
“I think it’s hard to say because we’re talking about a year’s worth of play of Kyle,” Day told reporters in Arlington, Texas, after the Cotton Bowl about his evaluation of the position he coaches. “He’s not here. I don’t think it’s fair to me to go back and go through all of that right now, and then this game was very unique.
“So bottom line is, we didn’t reach our goals this year, and that’s everybody. So the quarterback room is one of them.”
ESPN reported Wednesday morning the Buckeyes will host former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard on a visit this week, indicating Day is interested in adding another piece to the puzzle before spring ball.
The 6-foot-5, 242-pound Howard is rated the No. 6 quarterback in the transfer portal by 247Sports.
He was a three-star prospect coming out of Downingtown West High School in Pennsylvania four years ago and the No. 13 pro-style quarterback prospect in the class of 2020. (C.J. Stroud was No. 2 and fellow Ohio State signee Jack Miller III was No. 10.)
Howard threw for 5,786 yards and 48 touchdowns in 34 games at Kansas State, where he also threw 25 interceptions and ran for 921 yards and 19 touchdowns.
He earned a spot on the All-Big 12 second team last fall after completing 219 of 357 passes for 2643 yards with 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 12 games. He also ran for 351 yards and nine touchdowns despite being sacked 16 times.
Howard led Kansas State to the Big 12 title in 2022 and went 12-5 as a starter the last two years. Overall, he’s started 27 games and thrown for 48 touchdowns, 5,786 yards and run for 19 additional touchdowns. He has one year of eligibility.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 3, 2024
Howard was a hero of the 2022 season for the Wildcats when he started five games for injured starter Adrian Martinez and led them to a Big 12 championship, but this season Howard had to share time with true freshman Avery Johnson, a hotshot recruit who appears to be the quarterback of the future for KSU.
“No matter what happens, you can’t let anything off the field or personal get in the way of being a leader,” Howard told on3.com about the situation in November. “I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job of that. Obviously, the situation is what it is. At this point, I’ve just got to control what I can control and when I’m in there, just do all I can to help our team get a win.”
Day signed 247Sports Composite five-star prospect Air Noland last month to join Brown and Kienholz for spring football, but he likes to have four scholarship players at all times, and none of them have proven they are starting caliber yet.
Brown is entering his third year in the program while Kienholz, a fellow four-star prospect, arrived last summer.
Neither looked impressive behind an offensive line that was overrun most of the night by the Tigers.
Brown completed 4 of 6 passes before leaving the game with an ankle injury, and Kienholz was 6 for 17, leaving Day to lament not getting a better chance to evaluate them.
“I don’t have a great answer for that because that’s not what we were expecting to come out of the game,” Day said. “We didn’t have a game to look at and go through and evaluate (Brown). We know what we see in practice, but it’s certainly different when you play in a game. So, disappointed we don’t have that, (but) we’ll go back to work and figure that part of it out.”
Following McCord’s exit, Brown was visibly excited about having the chance to lead the team through bowl practices in December and looking forward to making his mark.
He also was asked how he would feel about Ohio State bringing in another quarterback and indicated he would be sticking around regardless.
“My focus is on being the starting quarterback at Ohio State,” Brown said. “I have never cared about who was in the room or who was coming.”
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