Ohio State head coach Ryan Day will not make it easy on potential starting quarterbacks Lincoln Kienholz and Julian Sayin.
Day, who during his press conference at Big Ten Media Day on Tuesday said the race between Kienholz and Sayin is still neck-and-neck, added that he aims to put as much pressure on the two hopeful-starters to prepare them for the weight that comes with being the starting quarterback at Ohio State.
“As much as possible,” Day said during a breakout interview on Tuesday when asked how much pressure he plans to put on his quarterbacks. “That pressure started a long time ago, by me for sure. I just think that’s how you do it, and then you can build their confidence as you go, but you have to provide that pressure so that they understand what comes with being the quarterback at Ohio State. It’s our job to make practice harder than the game and put them in game situations and see how they respond.”
Although Ohio State didn’t have a returning starting quarterback last season, eventual starter Will Howard was viewed as a big favorite to win the job, because of his years of starting experience at Kansas State. Sayin, Kienholz and true freshman quarterback Tavien St. Clair, who isn’t expected to be a factor in the race for the starting job, have gained very little collegiate experience. Still, each quarterback has shown several impressive traits during their time with the Buckeyes.
“Tavien, he certainly has the size, the makeup. He’s a great young man, he’s very intelligent, he’s athletic, he can throw the ball. I think he has a really bright future ahead of him,” Day said of St. Clair when asked about what he likes about each of his quarterbacks. “Julian certainly gets the ball out quickly. He’s had a good offseason, he’s intelligent, he is very competitive, he’s got good athleticism, he is accurate. Lincoln is a tremendous athlete; you pick a sport, he can do it. He’s like a 4 handicap (in golf), he can hit the ball out of the park, he was a major league baseball prospect, he can windmill dunk, he can do a lot of things. He’s also very intelligent and has been in the program for three years.
As much admiration as Day has for each of his young quarterbacks, one of them will ultimately have to win over not just their head coach, but also the locker room to secure the coveted starting job.
“I’ve never really had a feel for when the right time is,” Day said about naming a starting quarterback. “It’s important for the locker room to believe in whoever that is. For me, being a quarterback and being around it, when the locker room believes in that guy, that’s the right time. If the locker room doesn’t believe in one, then you kind of keep trying to give them opportunities for someone to grab onto the team. It didn’t happen for Will Howard until he got into the preseason last year, and then everyone in the program knew that it was his team. We’ll see where this goes. I think everything they have done in July and June and May has led up to where we are right now, but they have to go do it on the field.”
