Luke Fahey’s first start at Ohio State comes with no shortage of pressure, no shortage of noise and no shortage of meaning.
The freshman quarterback will take the field at The Horseshoe on Saturday against No. 23 Oregon, with more than 100,000 fans expected in the building.
The matchup also carries major postseason weight, since both the No. 12 Buckeyes and the Ducks need to keep winning to stay in the College Football Playoff race.
Fahey is stepping into the job because Julian Sayin is sidelined with a shoulder injury. He already made his starting debut on the road at USC, where he completed 21 of 38 passes for 260 yards and a touchdown in a 30-18 loss.
His path to this moment has been a little unusual. Fahey arrived in Columbus as a three-star recruit in the 2026 class, ranked No. 586 overall and No. 35 among quarterbacks in the 247Sports Composite.
That didn’t stop him from climbing past sophomore Tavien St. Clair, a five-star prospect in the 2025 class who had an extra year in the program, to become the primary backup behind Sayin.
After the injury, Ryan Day turned to Fahey to start against USC.
Fahey’s résumé starts at Mission Viejo High School in California, where he threw for more than 7,000 career yards. As a sophomore, in his first season as a starter, he passed for 2,184 yards and 26 touchdowns while leading Mission Viejo to the CIF State Division 1-AA championship. He also set a school record with 569 passing yards against Los Alamitos.
He was more than just a football player, too. Fahey also played basketball and lacrosse, and he scored 68 combined lacrosse goals during his sophomore and junior seasons.
Day wants the home crowd fully behind him on Saturday.
“When I talk about we need everybody to rally around the quarterback, that means the fans,” Day said. “We have the greatest fans in the world. We need to give them something to cheer for, but we need them to be there for us.”
Ohio State has set the game up as its “Scarlet the Shoe” matchup, asking more than 100,000 fans to wear scarlet inside the Horseshoe. The Buckeyes are also carrying a 12-game home winning streak into the game, and Oregon will try to end it.
Lanning, meanwhile, knows Fahey from his high school days and came away impressed.
“I remember Luke coming out of high school, went by, seeing him when he was in high school and he's an operator,” Lanning said. “He's a really smart quarterback, right? He's a winner.”
He also praised how Fahey handled the USC environment and the moving parts in Ohio State’s offense.
“This is an offense that has a lot of moving parts. I thought he handled it extremely well in that environment,” Lanning said.
Day said Fahey did not have a perfect night against USC and acknowledged the operational issues that showed up. Ohio State was penalized 11 times in the loss, and Day made it clear the rest of the offense has to do more to help the freshman.
“Like we said, going into it, we all got to help this guy out, and I don't think we did,” Day said of Fahey. “I thought he had the right approach.
It was not all perfect... He also made a lot of plays.
He also had command of the huddle. He also showed some grit out there and toughness,” Day said.
Day also said he checked in with the receivers and offensive line, and that Fahey has their support.
Saturday’s game adds another layer because Oregon’s Dylan Raiola is also leading the Ducks at quarterback. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m.
PT on Saturday, Nov. 7, and the game will air on CBS. Ducks fans heading to Columbus are encouraged to wear green.
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