Ohio State HC Ryan Day Has Ruled One QB Out of Starting Competition

Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes went on a magical run to win the national championship last season. However, the 2024 season has come and gone, and so have many of the players who helped lead that championship run.

One of the main players of last year's team, quarterback Will Howard, is now a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Day will have to figure out how to replace his production and leadership on the field.

At the beginning of the offseason, there were three quarterbacks expected to compete for the 2025 starting job. Now, the competition is down to a two-man race.

Recently, Day spoke out and announced that it was a "two-man race," as previously noted. He has already eliminated one of the three names from the competition.

Read more: NFL Draft Expert Sends Head-Turning Message About Texas QB Arch Manning

Right now, the two names in competition for the starting job are highly-touted quarterback Julian Sayin, who transferred in from Alabama last offseason, and Lincoln Kienholz. Both quarterbacks showed some great things during the spring game.

What does that mean? Tavien St. Clair has been eliminated from the starting quarterback competition, at least for now.

After saying that the quarterback race was down to Sayin and Kienholz, Day also complemented St. Clair and gave a lot of optimism for the future when it comes to him.

"You can see the talent with Tavien," Day said. "He just needs more experience, needs more at-bats, and the more he does that, the more he'll be in the mix."

Looking back at last season, Howard completed 73.1 percent of his pass attempts for 4,010 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He also picked up 226 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.

Those numbers are going to be difficult to replace for the Buckeyes. Both Sayin and Kienholz are talented quarterbacks, but neither of them has received much meaningful playing time.

It will be interesting to see how the competition progresses as the season draws closer. Sayin is still the favorite to be the Week 1 starting quarterback against the Texas Longhorns in a showdown against Arch Manning. Kienholz is still alive, but he has an uphill battle ahead.

As for St. Clair, the future is still incredibly bright. Day is clearly high on what he brings to the field, but more experience will help round out his skill set.

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