Why Tavien St. Clair Isn't Playing for Ohio State Behind Luke Fahey

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Ohio State fans are calling for QB Tavien St. Clair to start over Luke Fahey

Tavien St. Clair remains the lost man for the Ohio State football team.

The Buckeyes landed St. Clair as a five-star QB recruit in the Class of 2025 from Bellefontaine, Ohio. His recruiting status, and the fact that he’s an in-state kid, brought with it plenty of hype along with the belief that eventually, St. Clair would be a starting quarterback for Ohio State.

St. Clair’s time hasn’t arrived, though, and it’s not clear if it ever will.

Julian Sayin, this season’s QB1, was hurt on Oct. 17 at Indiana and hasn’t played since — but neither has St. Clair.

Luke Fahey, a three-star true freshman from California, took over against the Hoosiers, then started and played the entire game in the subsequent losses to USC and Oregon.

Again on Saturday against Northwestern, Fahey will start, and St. Clair will watch.

Plenty of Ohio State fans don’t understand it, but it’s clear at this point that head coach Ryan Day isn’t wavering in this decision.

Why Isn’t Tavien St. Clair Playing?

Ohio State v USC — GettyLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 31: Julian Sayin #10 of the Ohio State Buckeyes watches as Tavien St. Clair #9 of the Ohio State Buckeyes warms up before the game against the USC Trojans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on October 31, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)

St. Clair isn’t playing, on a simple level, because Ohio State has decided that Fahey deserves to play over him.

There’s been speculation as to whether St. Clair has struggled in practices or been unimpressive in his knowledge of the offense, but that’s all speculation — really the only thing that Buckeyes fans have to go on at this point.

Finally this week, Day did speak about St. Clair, but it didn’t really answer any deep questions. Still, his answers are as useful as anything at this point.

Ryan Day Comments on Tavien St. Clair

GettyCOLUMBUS, OHIO – AUGUST 7: Quarterback Tavien St. Clair #9 of the Ohio State Buckeyes runs drills during fall football camp at Woody Hayes Athletic Center on August 7, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images)

Day gave a couple of different thoughts this week on St. Clair:

On mentality: “Tavien is one snap away. That mentality has got to continue to be his mentality.”
On St. Clair in practice: “If we can continue to improve in practice and build enough trust in practice within practice, and we feel like he gives us the best chance to win, we’ll make that move. We’re not at that point right now.”
On St. Clair’s future: “We’ll continue to invest in him. But I don’t think that moment is right now.”

At this point, it’s hard to see how St. Clair will remain in Columbus after this season, particularly in the context of a transfer-happy college football world.

This hasn’t been how anyone drew up St. Clair’s time in an Ohio State uniform.