Ryan Day Names Ohio State Buckeyes Starting Quarterback

The wait for the announcement of the Ohio State Buckeyes starting quarterback has come to an end. Head coach Ryan Day officially announced the decision on Thursday.

Aug 2, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day looks down while evaluating the quarterbacks during Fall Camp practice Aug. 2, 2024 at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. / Doral Chenoweth / USA TODAY NETWORK

At the start of fall camp, Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day hoped that a starting quarterback would emerge in the first week to 10 days of practice. That would be a change of pace from last year's quarterback competition between Kyle McCord and Devin Brown.

Although McCord was named the starting quarterback for the season opener at Indiana, Day stated that the competition was still ongoing. It wasn't until September 12th, after two regular season games had already been played, that McCord was officially named the starter for the rest of the season.

The quarterback competition for the 2024 season has reached its conclusion prior to the first game after Day named Will Howard the starting quarterback on Thursday, August 15th.

The expectation leading up to this announcement was that Howard would be named the starting quarterback for several reasons.

Not only does Howard have more collegiate starting experience than all of the other quarterbacks combined, but he has also been getting the majority of first-team reps in camp.

Aug 8, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard (18) takes a snap during football practice at the Woody Hayes Athletic Complex. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Last season, the Kansas State transfer had 219 completions on 357 passing attempts in his final season with the Wildcats. That resulted in 2,643 yards and 24 touchdowns, while also throwing 10 interceptions. Howard was able to use his size and running ability to his advantage at Kansas State, rushing for 351 yards and nine touchdowns on 81 carries.

Since arriving at Ohio State, Howard has worked hard on transforming his body. Day has praised the quarterback for his ability to work with Ohio State's performance dietician Kaila Olson and strength coach Mick Marotti to lose bad weight and add lean mass back on. The 6-foot-4 quarterback is now listed at 235 pounds on Ohio State's official website.

Howard's ability to transform his body has also helped him with his straight-line speed. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly stated that Howard is the fastest in the quarterback room, clocking in at 22 miles per hour.

Even though Howard had not yet been named the starting quarterback for the Buckeyes, he did get named to several award watchlists this preseason. Both the Walter Camp Award and Davey O'Brien Award watchlists listed the name of the veteran college quarterback.

Now that Howard has officially been named the starter, his task for this season is fully laid out in front of him.

Ohio State has weapons all over the offense with TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins, Emeka Egbuka, Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss. What the Buckeyes need is someone to manage the game under center, distribute the ball around the field and protect the football.

As long as Howard can do that, this offense should be in great shape.

If Howard can run an efficient offense and the defense is as good as advertised, Ohio State has a realistic shot of beating Michigan, winning the Big Ten title and securing the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff title.