The Ohio State Buckeyes are playing a college football game on Saturday, one that’s quite significant for OSU — a road trip to USC for a Big Ten clash on the wide expanse of the modern Big Ten.
Ohio State doesn’t have a starting quarterback, though, and least not one that’s public knowledge. Julian Sayin got hurt two weeks ago at Indiana, and he’s out “indefinitely” with an injury to his throwing arm.
Head coach Ryan Day is choosing between Luke Fahey and Tavien St. Clair, and he told reporters on Tuesday that it’ll be a day or two more before a decision is made.
Could Day just be holding his decision back from public consumption so early? Potentially.
Could he actually not know which way to go? That’s also possible.
But it leaves Buckeyes fans wondering how this is going to turn out, and they’ll be waiting to hear the latest news from Day at some point — or just find out on the field on Saturday.
Either way, it’s clear that there are a few more opportunities to potentially get the details.
When Ohio State Might Announce Starting QB
Buckeyes beat writer Jeff Gilbert of Press Pros Magazine wrote in a new piece on Tuesday about what the timeline could look like on this decision getting known by the public.
Gilbert made it clear that this isn’t a decision that Ohio State will let leak before those in-house know.
“Fahey and St. Clair will be the first to know, then the rest of the team,” Gilbert writes. “Every other Ohio State constituency must wait until no one knows when.”
Gilbert laid out the options from there based on Day’s tendencies.
“Day will speak briefly to the media after Wednesday night’s second practice this week,” Gilbert writes. “He might release his decision then, but only if he’s made it and the entire team knows. He said the decision won’t be a secret. Unless news leaks out, we might learn Friday when he arrives at the team hotel. He’s usually available to answer a few questions in that setting.”
The last possibility:
“Otherwise, pregame reps on the field will reveal the starter,” Gilbert writes. “Until then, this situation will be fodder for writers, radio sports talk and podcasts. And we wait.”
Key to Decision
Day revealed to reporters when he spoke on Tuesday that he wants toughness above all else out of the winner of this competition.
“It’s going to take everything we have, and it’s going to start with the quarterback,” Day said. “And if you’re saying, give me one thing, that’s toughness.”
St. Clair is the former five-star recruit from Bellefontaine, Ohio. Fahey was a three-star recruit and a three-sport athlete in California.
One of them will get the start on Saturday with Ohio State’s season in their hands. We just don’t know who yet.
Ohio State QB Decision Has New Release Date, With Options