Ohio State is four days from opening the college football season against Ball State, and the Buckeyes already know who will start at quarterback.
Julian Sayin has the job locked down. What happens behind him is still being sorted out.
Coach Ryan Day said Tuesday that backup work will be split this week between Tavien St. Clair and Luke Fahey as the team prepares for Saturday’s game.
Day wants to get both reserves into the opener if the scoreboard allows it. That likely means Ohio State will need a comfortable lead against the Cardinals.
The Buckeyes are listed as 50.5-point favorites, according to FanDuel.
“We’re going to let those guys continue to split reps with the twos this week and see how the week goes,” Day told reporters on Tuesday.
“And if we can get them both reps in the game, we’ll try to do that. We’ll just kind of see how the game goes.”
St. Clair arrived as a five-star recruit in the 2025 class. Many around the program expect him to eventually settle in as the primary backup, though Fahey has impressed during camp.
Ohio State is already looking ahead to the next chapter at the position. Sayin could be an NFL draft candidate as early as 2027, which puts extra weight on developing the players behind him.
Back in February, Day made it clear he expected St. Clair to take a big step this offseason.
“And then Tavien is someone that really has to step up for us,” Day said. “He’s going to have to be right there behind Julian and be ready to go. The schedule that we’re playing next year, as you guys know, you’ve seen what it looks like.
“And so, Tavien’s got to really take the next step. We’ve seen the talent. We know that he can throw it. He’s big and strong and all those things. So, this offseason will be critical for him.”
That development work is still unfolding as the Buckeyes get ready for Week 1.
Day also admitted it is hard to know exactly what Ball State will look like. Roster turnover through the transfer portal has changed a lot of teams, including Ohio State’s own.
“Well, I think you saw this in Week 0,” Day said. “A lot of teams are different. So when you say, what do you know about this team? I’m sure (Ball State coach Mike Uremovich) would say that he doesn’t know about the team.
“Just like I don’t know about our team yet. We haven’t played a game. There’s a lot of new faces over there. So are they going to continue to do what they do? I’m not sure. We’ll have to figure that out on Saturday. But certainly have respect for their coaching staff and their program. And then we’ll kind of see once we get on the field.”
Ohio State opens at home Saturday against Ball State. The Buckeyes will use the next few practices to decide how much work the two backups actually see once the game starts.
