Ohio State Buckeyes' Ryan Day Officially Reveals Backup Quarterback

Ohio State Buckeyes coach Ryan Day has officially named a backup quarterback for the team.

Aug 8, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Devin Brown (33) tosses a ball during football practice at the Woody Hayes Athletic Complex. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day officially announced that Will Howard would be the team's starting quarterback earlier this month, and now, he has revealed the backup.

It will be Devin Brown (h/t Dan Hope of Eleven Warriors).

This does not come as much of a surprise, as Day said that Brown was the favorite to win the backup job when he named Howard the starter a couple of weeks ago. However, Day never made anything official until now.

Julian Sayin had been in the mix to win the No. 2 job, but the fact that Brown ultimately beat out the freshman for the role should come as a shock to no one.

Brown arrived at Ohio State in 2022 but didn't actually earn any playing time until last season, went he went 16-for-28 with 217 yards, a couple of touchdowns and an interception.

Obviously, the 20-year-old is still vastly unproven, but he is familiar with the Buckeyes' system and appears to be the most reliable option behind Howard.

As a matter of fact, earlier in the offseason, there was no guarantee that Howard was even going to win the starting job, and Brown was probably the top competitor.

That being said, at this point, there is a clear pecking order.

“Devin has shown the ability to do just about everything we’ve asked him to do,” Day said earlier this month, via Hope. “It’s the consistency part and taking care of the football part that he’s just got to make sure that he does a great job of moving forward. If he can do that, he can play and be a contributor.”

Ohio State will kick off its regular season when it hosts Akron this Saturday.