Tavien St. Clair entered Ohio State with all the shine you’d expect from a five-star quarterback.
He was a top-five national prospect, the best player in Ohio, and one of the headliners of the Buckeyes’ highly rated 2025 recruiting class. That kind of profile usually comes with a straight line to the future.
But what’s unfolded so far has pointed in a very different direction.
St. Clair was again the third quarterback to play in Ohio State’s win over Kent State, just as he was against Ball State in Week 1.
Three-star freshman Luke Fahey got the first crack at the offense, opening with four drives before St. Clair finally came in with a little more than five minutes left.
That left St. Clair only two drives to make his case. He attempted just one pass, and it turned into a bad interception that produced the only Kent State points of the afternoon.
Coming out of high school, St. Clair was frequently compared to Buckeye great Justin Fields. So far, though, the comparison has looked more like Fields’ NFL version than his Ohio State version: a quarterback with obvious physical gifts who has trouble processing quickly and locking onto his first read, no matter what the defense is showing.
That matters in a Ryan Day offense. Reading the field and making fast decisions are essential here, and Fahey has already shown those traits along with solid arm talent.
That gap is a big reason the depth chart looks the way it does now, and why St. Clair’s path at Ohio State feels increasingly cloudy.
It also explains why there’s a real chance St. Clair is elsewhere after this season.
Even if Julian Sayin leaves - and that remains up in the air - the sense is that St. Clair would still not be the starter next year.
If that happens, a portal exit becomes a very real possibility.
The staff’s trust in Fahey tells its own story. Ohio State has already labeled him QB2 as a freshman, even though he was only a three-star recruit and the 38th quarterback in the country in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports.
If Sayin does move on, Ohio State would likely attack the transfer market for a veteran quarterback who can give the program a steady bridge if needed. And while St. Clair has not helped himself with his performance, the fit also appears to be an issue.
Day has not built his offense around quarterback run game. Even during the two seasons Justin Fields started, Fields averaged just 39.4 rushing yards per game and had only one outing with more than 100 yards on the ground. That stands in stark contrast to the way Fields is viewed now in the NFL, where he’s seen as one of the most dangerous running quarterbacks in recent memory and has five 100-yard rushing games.
For St. Clair, that kind of usage could matter.
An offense that leans into his athleticism and legs might slow things down for him and make life easier. Instead, Ohio State’s system appears built for a different type of quarterback - the kind who fits cleanly into the structure rather than needing the structure adjusted around him.
That’s part of why Lincoln Kienholz is brought up as a comparison. He is playing amazingly at Louisville, and the idea is that he may have needed a different environment to find his footing.
Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm is running a system tailor-made for Kienholz to succeed, and that same sort of fit may be what St. Clair would need to maximize his game.
At Ohio State, though, Day’s offense does not seem especially quarterback-agnostic. That’s not necessarily a flaw in Columbus, where the Buckeyes can be selective and choose talent that matches the system.
But it does make the situation with St. Clair harder to ignore.
For now, the combination of his play and the way Ohio State is handling the quarterback room raises a real question about where he fits. Unless there’s real growth and adjustment ahead, the Ohio native could be looking at football somewhere else next season.
In Other News...
Ohio States Easy Win Couldnt Quiet One Big Concern
Ohio State handled Kent State 59-3 and put the game away early, taking a 35-0 lead into halftime and never letting the outcome feel in doubt. The Buckeyes still found enough balance to lean on the run, finishing with 145 rushing yards on 38 attempts, with Bo Jackson leading the way with 73 yards and a touchdown.
Even in a blowout, though, the ground game remains a point worth watching. Ohio States rushing offense is still inconsistent overall, sitting 79th nationally at just under 159 yards per game, and that leaves a gap between what this roster can be and what it has shown so far. The schedule will get less forgiving from here, and the Buckeyes will need more than a comfortable win to answer that concern. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Just Got A Clear Warning About Illinois Saturday
Illinois followed its loss to Duke with a much cleaner performance against Southern Illinois, and the part that should have Ohio State paying attention is how much more settled the Illini looked at the line of scrimmage. The offensive line showed progress, the run defense was sturdier, and the overall operation came across as a team that had already made some useful corrections before the matchup in Columbus.
Katin Houser also gave Illinois a steadier passing game by spreading the ball around, which matters because it hints at a more functional offense than the one that stumbled a week earlier. The defense, meanwhile, flashed enough improvement against the run to suggest this is not a team the Buckeyes can afford to overlook, even if the bigger question still hangs over whether those adjustments travel against a much faster and more talented opponent. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Fans Got A Big Noon Reminder Nobody Wanted
A rout should have sounded like a showcase, but Ohio States 59-3 win over Kent State came with a broadcast that drew as much attention as the score. FOX Sports announcer Gus Johnson delivered the game in a flat, muted tone, and he also made a factual mistake while discussing a players touchdown history, a rough combination in a matchup that was already struggling to hold viewers attention.
The bigger issue is one college football keeps circling back to every fall: games like this are increasingly hard to sell, even for a blueblood with a massive fan base. Ohio State can only do so much when the opponent is overmatched, and the broadcast only amplified the sense that fans, and maybe networks, would rather see a more competitive nonconference slate than another predictable Saturday afternoon tune-up. [Read more 🡒]