Replacing a ton of talent after the NFL Draft would bring all kinds of questions to this year’s Spring Game at Ohio State. No group had nearly as much scrutiny as the quarterback room. It has been a three-man race all Spring with two quarterbacks reportedly “neck and neck” according to Ryan Day. While overarching overreactions are not attainable after one Spring Game, the quarterback battle in Columbus lived up to its billing.
All three Buckeye quarterbacks took snaps and showed what they had to give. For every pin-point throw there was, an interception was thrown or an errant pass was let go. The play of Julian Sayin, Lincoln Kienholz, and Tavien St. Clair cleared up plenty of concerns. While Day will likely not name a starter until August as he did last year, there was a feeling that one quarterback stood out.
Ohio State’s Quarterback Battle Lived Up To Hype in Spring Game
The Pride of the Sayins
If Sayin is as good as advertised – and Ohio State got a small taste in the Spring Game – expect more Dragonball Z references. There is far too much of a crossover between anime nerds and football fanatics in the real world for a player with the last name of “Sayin” to go unnoticed.
All in all, Sayin looked like he was starting to blossom into the next starting quarterback. Is the job his? According to Twitter experts, yes. According to the coaches who make the decision, no. Day praised his quarterbacks on the day but did not give an iota of evidence that they have moved in either direction.
Either way, Sayin was throwing darts where only his receivers could catch them and exhibited an anticipation that only someone who trained and mastered the Ultra Instinct could do. On the day, he finished with an unofficial stat line of 175 yards and one touchdown while completing 17 of 24 attempts. That lone touchdown came on his second drive of the day where he found Purdue transfer Max Klare down the seam. Sayin perfectly nestled the ball between three defenders and Klare just sauntered into the end zone.
Perhaps his best play of the day was on the next drive. Sayin threaded a pass to Mylan Graham (remember the name) despite pressure and great coverage.
Nothing has been decided and nothing will be decided any time soon. However, in the minds of the Buckeye faithful who watched, Sayin has the inside track to the job. Day let him air it out early. 165 of his yards came in the first half off of 20 passes.
It’s How You Finish
Kienholz started the game with the first-team offense. Day gave the redshirt sophomore the nod as he has said the two have been neck and neck and as the more experienced player, he would get the first crack at it. On his first drive, Kienholz had a few bad throws, and the offense went three-and-out. In the first half, he finished with 70 yards and completed eight of his thirteen attempts. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t what you’d look for in the Ohio State starting quarterback in the Spring Game against a vanilla defense.
Then, he turned it up in the second half. Keinholz completed all five of his second-half attempts for 90 yards and a pair of touchdowns. One of those touchdowns was on an impressive 51-yard pitch and catch with Graham who found a soft spot in the zone across the middle and did the rest. Kienholz could have had another touchdown but safety Jaylen McClain made a great play. Keinholz put the ball right where it needed to be but McClain ripped it out of Jelani Thurman‘s hands in the endzone.
In the court of public opinion, Kienholz has been skiing uphill. Everyone wants to just crown the next big thing and unfortunately for the redshirt sophomore from South Dakota, Sayin is a shinier toy. This is a battle for a reason. Keinholz is bigger (six-foot-three, 207 pounds vs. Sayin’s six-foot-one, 203 pounds) and has a little more shake to him athletically. If Day thinks the two are still neck and neck when Texas comes to town, it would not be surprising to see Kienholz as the starter with his dual-threat ability and knowledge of the system.
The Future is Bright
Finally, St. Clair was certainly the third quarterback in the game. However, he showed quite a bit of reason to be optimistic about the Buckeyes’ future at the position.
Let’s get the bad out of the way; he threw two interceptions that were not well-thrown. On his first, true freshman safety Faheem Delane jumped in front of a pass and would have returned it for a touchdown if they didn’t blow it dead when St. Clair touched him down. On the second, St. Clair was pressured, and tried to force a pass on the sideline, and Brenten “Inky” Jones jumped it and got his toes down for the interception.
Other than those two passes, however, he looked good. He had the deepest completion in terms of air yards off a perfectly placed Cover 2 beater to Quincy Porter. He got more playing time in the second half and accounted for 117 yards and a touchdown while completing 10 of 12. That touchdown? He threaded a pass to freshman Phillip Bell on the final play of the game in the back of the endzone.
All in all, there are reasons for optimism for all three Ohio State quarterbacks. Day’s unit is in good hands.
Main Photo: Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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