Ohio State football head coach Ryan Day gave an update on the close starting quarterback competition between Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz. The Buckeyes are coming off a trying regular season, by their standards, that ended in a dominant run to their ninth national championship. It was a true redemption story for Day, who many people had called for to be fired before the College Football Playoff after a late-season loss to Michigan. Now, the Buckeyes are on the road to a repeat and have yet to name their QB1 as August nears.

The assumption was that former 5-star quarterback Julian Sayin was going to take over for Will Howard in Columbus, but junior Lincoln Kienholz has held his own in this competition. During Big Ten Media Days, Day broke down where this battle stands now and what he's looking for in the new QB1 for the 2025 season.

“Same, because it’s hard to make any progress unless you’re actually on the field playing football. But I think both guys have gotten stronger. Will be interesting to see once we get done with our summer program with Mick (Marotti) next week … who’s Iron Buckeyes? That’ll be big for the leadership.

But guys have taken leadership roles. They’ve been throwing with the wide receivers. I ask those guys all the time, and they like both of them. We’re going to put them in as many competitive situations as we possibly can to figure out who handles that the best because we’ve got to be on point Week 1. We can’t be messing around. I know that we’ll need all of those guys in that room this year.”
Day's statement towards the end is especially significant, as whoever takes over the starting role will be thrown into the fire right away. The Buckeyes have a Week 1 clash against Texas, which will likely be the preseason No. 1 team in the country. The hype for the new starting quarterback in Austin, Arch Manning, is through the roof, and he will be going into Columbus looking for a signature early win on his resume. The Longhorns will also be seeking revenge after the Buckeyes ended their season in the College Football Playoff semifinal.
Overall, it'll be interesting when Day makes his decision about who starts against Texas. Because it might not be the worst idea to keep whoever is QB1 a secret to keep the Longhorns on their toes, scouting-wise, before August 30.
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