McCord, Brown compete to be Ohio State’s starting quarterback
It won’t be hard to distinguish between the quarterbacks in Ohio State’s battle to succeed C.J. Stroud.
After all, you often don’t see quarterbacks who wear No. 33. That’s the uniform number second-year quarterback Devin Brown has chosen. He asked Ohio State coach Ryan Day if he could wear it as an homage to Sammie Baugh, the first quarterback inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“I’ve always worn 33 my whole life until my sophomore year of high school,” Brown said. “The only reason I had to change was because we had a senior running back who had it.
“When I moved to Utah (as a high school senior), it still wasn’t an option to go to 33. Last year, it wasn’t an option. I’m so happy I get to wear it again.”
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Brown, who wore No. 15 last year, will be competing with junior Kyle McCord for the starting job.
McCord joked about not being one-upped by Brown, saying he ought to wear No. 34 instead of his No. 6
“I think it would look smooth, 33 and 34 back there,” he said.
The battle between McCord and Brown began in earnest Tuesday with the start of spring practice. Because he has one more year of experience than Brown, including a 2021 start against Akron when Stroud was injured, McCord is perceived as the favorite.
He was a five-star recruit from Philadelphia’s St. Joseph’s Prep, where he was teammates with Marvin Harrison Jr. McCord threw 20 passes last year, completing 16, in mop-up duty. Brown didn’t throw any passes.
But Day has been careful not to anoint a front-runner, and according to Brown, coaches have said the reps will be split evenly.
Day said what he most wants to see from his quarterbacks is leadership.
“You have to be felt and heard,” he said, “and I did (see) that today. That was a really encouraging thing. I heard it after a good play or a bad play. It didn’t matter.”