Ohio State is 6-1, sitting at No. 2 in the AP poll, and still doesn’t know who will throw the ball Saturday night in Los Angeles. Julian Sayin is out indefinitely, and Ryan Day won’t pick between freshman Luke Fahey and sophomore Tavien St. Clair. Jeremiah Smith has already said what everyone was thinking: a new quarterback means new timing, and that takes reps.
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However, Day believes Smith could get acclimated to Fahey pretty quickly, given the time they have to work together in practice before Saturday’s game.
“Yeah, I think he said it was going to take time, yeah, and it does; it takes time,” Day said during a presser, according to an X post by Dillon Davis. “But he’s been on the field, and he’s thrown a little before. But I think it’s clear that he and Julian spent a lot of time together, so this is new.”
“Jeremiah is a tremendous talent, and he can adjust quickly. And the good thing about he and Luke is, Luke, you just got to get it somewhere in the neighborhood of number four, and he’s got to pull it down.”
Sayin went down in the fourth quarter of the 19-15 win at Indiana on October 17 and came back to the sideline with his right arm in a sling. Sayin is expected to miss the regular season and the postseason. After the Hoosiers game, Smith said getting in sync with a new QB takes “a lot of practice, a lot of reps.”
But Day isn’t worried about Smith, as he can win contested balls. Smith and Sayin had worked together for more than a year, and Smith knew where Sayin would throw the ball.
Fahey, a freshman out of Mission Viejo, doesn’t have that proven experience or chemistry with Smith yet. St. Clair has the arm but hasn’t thrown to Smith much in games either. Day said that both quarterbacks are getting first-team reps this week, and that’s where the chemistry has to come from.
Smith was averaging 152.7 receiving yards per game through Ohio State’s first six games before Indiana. He now has 52 catches for 984 yards and 12 touchdowns through seven games, averaging 140.6 yards per contest. Sayin, meanwhile, has completed 131 of 192 passes for 2,007 yards, 19 touchdowns, and four interceptions.
Against the Hoosiers, Smith had a season-low 68 yards on four catches, and most of that came on one 38-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Indiana double-teamed him and got to the quarterback. Fahey replaced Sayin and went 0-for-2 with an intentional grounding penalty.
“So, but that goes back to the same thing as we said about the offensive line,” Day said. “Like, all right, Jeremiah, if he puts it on you, let’s go make a play. But if he’s a little bit off, you got to pick him up a little bit. And that’s going to be how it goes until these guys get their confidence and get their feet underneath them.”
The numbers on the current QB room are thin. Fahey is 9-of-13 for 203 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions across four appearances this season. He completed five passes for 62 yards against Ball State and four for 141 yards against Kent State, throwing one touchdown in each game. St. Clair is 5-of-7 for 52 yards, a touchdown, and an interception across two appearances.
Day said before the bye week that Fahey was way ahead, and that’s why he went in first when Sayin went down against Indiana. Ohio State wants a quarterback who is “tough” more than anything else, and Smith needs to build a rhythm with whoever it is fast, with Oregon, Northwestern, Nebraska, and Michigan coming up next.
Day keeps the door open
Day has mentioned that both quarterbacks could have a chance to play at USC. He plans to lean on offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and quarterbacks coach Billy Fessler before he picks.
“We all got to be tighter here,” Day said, according to Lyle Alenstein of Eleven Warriors. “We got to help a young quarterback get his first win as a Buckeye. And it’s going to take our best.”
That puts it on everybody, not just Smith. The offensive line should be near full strength, with Austin Siereveld likely back, while Ja’Kobi Jackson remains sidelined at running back. Ohio State’s defense allows 13.4 points per game, ranking fifth nationally according to Sports-Reference, so the offense doesn’t need to be perfect. It needs to get Smith the ball and stay on schedule, as USC is coming off a 24-7 loss at Wisconsin.