Ohio State football, Ryan Day can win back-to-back national titles thanks to 15-TD scoring threat

Zain Bando

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Ohio State football, Ryan Day can win back-to-back national titles thanks to 15-TD scoring threat image

Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ohio State is on a collision course to repeat as national champs again despite having yet to make a concrete decision as to who its starting quarterback might be.

Regardless, CBS Sports' Brandon Marcello trusts the Buckeyes are going to figure out answers quickly as long as soon-to-be sophomore star wideout Jeremiah Smith remains a critical scoring threat.

In doing so, Marcello ranked the Buckeyes No. 1 in his way-too-early post-spring top 25 without hesitation, declaring to "not listen to the noise" about a probable starter.

"The national champs are the favorite to win back-to-back titles despite losing eight starters on defense and quarterback Will Howard," Marcello wrote. "Why? The best player in college football, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, is still on the roster, and safety Caleb Downs will lead a reloaded and talented roster. Don't listen to the noise about a quarterback competition; Alabama transfer Julian Sayin will be the starter when the Buckeyes open the season against Texas."

According to Day, however, the quarterback competition has a clear pathway as spring turns to summer.

Eleven Warriors' Chase Brown reported April 29 that Day revealed the final two candidates to replace Will Howard if the season started today.

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"Ryan Day said Julian Sayin, Lincoln Kienholz and Tavien St. Clair all had good moments during Ohio State's spring game," Brown tweeted. "He called the Buckeyes' quarterback battle "a two-horse race" between Sayin and Kienholz."

It's unclear when Day is going to give a definitive answer. Either way, though, the Buckeyes have options for who Smith catches passes from as he attempts to maintain his jaw-dropping body of work from his freshman season. Smith caught 76 receptions for 1,315 yards, resulting in 15 touchdowns, averaging 17.3 yards per reception.

Barring anything unforeseen, the Buckeyes seem in great shape to win the Big Ten and potentially make another historic playoff run.

For the time being, their heavyweight rematch against Arch Manning's Texas Longhorns awaits.

Zain Bando

Zain Bando is a freelance writer for The Sporting News. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism. Over the years, Bando has written about various beats surrounding Illinois, Northwestern, and Kansas State Athletics but sticks to the Big Ten as his primary expertise. Outside of collegiate reporting, Bando covers MMA and boxing for MMA Knockout On Sports Illustrated and hosts/co-hosts two podcasts as part of the Empty The Bench Podcast Network – Bando's Breakdowns and The MMA Outsiders, which air weekly on YouTube and are distributed on all podcast platforms Tuesday nights and Wednesday afternoons. Bando is a Chicago Suburban native and a member of the FWAA and USBWA, continuing to hone his professional skills as a sports journalist and media personality. Since June 2019, Bando's byline has been seen across many mediums, including MSN, Yardbarker, Deadspin, FanSided, BJPenn.com, Bridge Media Network (Sports News Highlights), Mike Farrell Sports, Reuters, and more. When Bando is not writing, he binges on old UFC fights, spends time with family and friends, memorizes every Super Bowl, and manifests all the places he still has to travel to (even while bringing his laptop).