Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day watches players warm up during the first football practice of the season at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on July 31, 2025. Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ryan Day Slow Playing Ohio State's QB Competition Is A Bit Worrisome

Originally posted on Ohio State Buckeyes on SI
By Andrew Kulha | Last updated Aug 12, 2025 7:00 AM ET

There's an old saying when it comes to quarterback competitions in the game of football that goes like this: If you've got two quarterbacks, you really have none. That's likely not the case for the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes, because the two quarterbacks they have battling in fall camp are former stud recruits, but there has to be a little bit of consternation coming out of Columbus as a Week 1 matchup with No. 1 Texas quickly approaches.

Why hasn't one of these young quarterbacks stood out enough to win the starting job outright? Will whoever does win the competition be ready to take on the Longhorns despite splitting No. 1 reps through fall camp?

Those are legitimate questions, and perhaps legitimate concerns, but head coach Ryan Day is certainly approaching the battle between Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz with a laissez-faire attitude.

“There were positives on both ends. There were negatives on both ends. I won’t predict when we’ll make this decision," Day said Monday when discussing the quarterback competition, according to Stefan Krajisnik of cleveland.com.

To be fair to Day, the Buckeyes are well within their rights to evaluate who the best quarterback is for the job. And even if they decide to go one way, they could always change their mind at any point in the season.

That's also what fall camp is for, though each and every day that goes by is one day closer to arguably the biggest game of the season that's not against the Michigan Wolverines.

And still, Day seems perfectly content with collecting data on both quarterbacks and letting them fight it out rather than put his thumb on the scale.

Texas Longhorns Have No Questions At QB

Meanwhile, in Austin, the Longhorns enter this game with a sure-bet starter at quarterback in Arch Manning. There are no question marks as to who will be leading head coach Steve Sarkisian's offense. Really, the only question at Texas is whether or not Manning is as good as advertised, but the looks we've seen of him over the past two seasons would suggest that he is the real deal.

That may put Ohio State at a disadvantage, but one gets the sense that Day believes that letting this process play out is more important than rushing into a decision that he may ultimately regret. After all, in both football and in life, the cream does always rise to the top.

For now, fans have to be patient, no matter how excruciating it may feel to wait.

"We’re getting more and more information that we need to make a decision. Where it’s at now, we’ll let it continue to play out," Day said.

This article first appeared on Ohio State Buckeyes on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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