Day: Ohio State QB battle to go 'down to the wire'

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After the first quarter of Ohio State's preseason practices, the competition between Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz for the starting quarterback spot remains too close to call.

"The competition continues," coach Ryan Day said. "They both have had good moments and moments where they're growing. I will say I've been pleased with the progress. It's going to go right down to the wire.

"The positives of having a competition is that you know every day you got to bring it. The guys are always on edge, they're uncomfortable, they're working at it. I think that's healthy for the entire building."

A quarterback competition the season after winning the College Football Playoff championship is routine at Ohio State. The circumstances, though, are different.

In 2015, Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett both had experience as they battled. Jones led the Buckeyes to the title when he started the Big Ten championship and both CFP games after Barrett broke his ankle against Michigan.

Sayin and Kienholz have a combined 34 pass attempts and 90 college snaps. They are competing to replace Will Howard, who transferred from Kansas State and threw for a Big Ten-high 4,010 yards and 35 touchdowns in leading the Buckeyes to their sixth national title.

Quarterbacks coach Billy Fessler is looking for consistency, especially as the Buckeyes start getting more into situational scenarios during practices the next two weeks.

"We have to be great on third down and in the red zone. That's where quarterbacks make their money," Fessler said. "We're in a spot where we're getting more and more of those situations every day. So it's an opportunity for those guys to go out and compete."

Sayin has shown better arm strength, though Keinholz has more athleticism after playing three sports in high school.

Sayin originally committed to Alabama as the top-rated quarterback in the Class of 2024 and was taking classes when Nick Saban retired. Sayin then entered the transfer portal last spring and came to Ohio State. He played in four games, including the CFP first-round contest against Tennessee, and was 5 for 12 for 84 yards and one touchdown while taking 27 snaps.

The sophomore is the slight favorite to emerge as the starter for the Aug. 30 opener against Texas, but he hasn't paid any attention to the outside hype.

"I feel like I'm developing in my footwork accuracy and mechanics. It's just all about building confidence. You make a great play, you start to build that confidence," Sayin said.

The last snaps Kienholz took in a game were in the 2023 Cotton Bowl against Missouri after starter Devin Brown was injured in the first half. Keinholz struggled, as he completed only six of 17 passes for 86 yards.

However, the junior had a great offseason and was one of eight Ohio State players named an Iron Buckeye, which goes to players who excel during offseason workouts.

"As a freshman going in there, I didn't really know a whole lot. I didn't really know how protections worked and I mean, now that's something that I feel like I'm pretty good at, and I go out and and execute that well," Keinholz said. "I've been in the offense for three years now, so it's something that I think just more time, more reps and film study, it's helped me get better."

Freshman Tavien St. Clair is also getting snaps, but is still getting up to speed with the offense. He did come in as an early enrollee and participated in spring practices.

Besides quarterback, Day and the coaching staff are looking for some of the positions to get an established starting group toward the end of the week. Day used a phrase from safeties coach Matt Guerrieri in comparing this week to the third round of a golf tournament, which is typically called moving day.

"This is moving week. We want to have our identity and it doesn't need to be in stone, but the players can tell us what we're doing and what our identity is coming out of this week," Day said.