COLUMBUS, Ohio--With the spring practice slowly coming to an end and spring game concluding with a 35-17 victory for the Team Grey over Team Scarlet in an Ohio Stadium with an attendance of 61,102, a lot of questions linger, but none more prevalent than deciding the quarterbacks.
Although four quarterbacks saw the field today, eyes were mostly on Matthew Baldwin and Justin Fields, who Ohio State head coach Ryan Day says that they are engaged in a battle to be named the starter for the 2019 college football season.
Day said that although each quarterback had some good and bad throws, as a whole, the team has a long way to go in where the offseason is just about to get underway.
"This is just the first step from this season and we got a lot of work to do," Day said. "We got a good team though, I think. This is part of the season, we then have this offseason, the summer, preseason. So, we'll just keep building from here, but there is a lot of good pieces, a lot of good leadership starting to form out there."
Baldwin had the most work of the quarterbacks as he saw time with Team Grey and Team Scarlet and finished with a stat line of 20-for-36 for 246 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Fields didn't seem to look any better and looked off on some aspects save for one monster 98-yard touchdown pass to Binjimen Victor and a skillful touchdown run to the outside. Fields finished going 4-for-13 for 131 yards and a touchdown and on the ground finished with eight carries for 38 yards and a touchdown.
Fields said he needs to be better, but sees a lot of positives with the offense and once he started to gain some confidence after his first two series, each of the next four series ended in a touchdown.
"I feel like I've only scratched the surface," Fields said. "If I had to grade myself out today, It would be about a C+. I'm very hard on myself. I'm kind of a perfectionist, but I definitely just see us scratching the surface and see us with a bright future."
It is one thing to practice in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center with certain drills, but it is another thing entirely to play in front of 61,000-plus fans and have rushers coming after quarterbacks, in thud football of course.
Day said the simulation of a big-game atmosphere is the next step in seeing which quarterback will eventually answer the bell, but at this time of year, it is all about getting as many reps in the offense as you can for quarterbacks that don't have a lot of experience.
"When you are in the meeting room and you're learning the offense, it's one thing to say it, it's one thing to see it on film, it's another thing to do it in the 7-on-7 when there is no rush, then, when the rush is going. It's all the progression. So, you can't simulate all of that. There's nothing you can do, you have to play the game. There are so many things that go into that, the protection and it's reps, it's experience, it's going through it all. The more you know when you step on the field, the more you are prepared, the better off you're going to be, but there is nothing that replaces experience. The more these guys get a chance to play and run the offense, the better they'll be."
When looking at both quarterbacks passing the ball today, the percentage was about 49 percent, which isn't flattering for either Baldwin or Fields but gives perspective on feeling a real pass-rush for the first time in a simulated game and getting to know what that feels like.
Day said that it is something that the quarterbacks need to learn and get a feel for moving forward and that will help them to tweak things in their game to be more accurate in the offseason and grow as a quarterback.
"That's part of it, that's part of it, getting your feet in the ground," Day said. "The timing of everything and how fast it's moving or maybe it's a defensive lineman that flashes in front of your face and being able to move your feet. Again, we have to drill that and get better at that, so those things don't happen. But again, if you haven't done it with a real guy rushing at you, it's very, very different. So, the more times they get it, the better they'll be."
The separation between both quarterbacks remains unclear and won't get any clearer with Day moving forward as doesn't want the dynamic of the quarterback room to change this early in the offseason going into preseason football and fall camp.
Day said anything can happen between now and preseason and naming a starting quarterback wouldn't do anyone any good and with not naming a quarterback, Fields, and Baldwin can continue to push each other and make each other the best that they can be each day moving closer towards the start of the 2019 college football season.
"I don't really know right now, I'm going to keep looking at it. I know I keep saying that to you and everyone wants to know," Day said. "But again, I don't think right now that we are kind of make a decision on that. I think it'll continue through the preseason. Right now, we only have three quarterbacks. Imagine if someone steps off a curb and hurts their ankle tomorrow, we got two. These guys got to keep going. They are probably all going to have to play one-way shape or form along the way. So, they'll keep pulling for each other and as long as that room gets stronger, that's the key."
