That includes a potential quarterback change, and Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said that evaluation is already underway. When asked if McCord would start for the No. 7 Buckeyes (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten) in the Cotton Bowl against No. 9 Missouri, Day declined to commit to the junior as QB1.

“I’m not gonna really get into all that right now — and I don’t think I’m there yet,” Day said Sunday. “But we’ll just kind of see how practice goes.”

McCord, who beat out Devin Brown as the heir apparent for C.J. Stroud, took care of business most afternoons in Columbus. Far from perfect, the Philadelphia native did finish with 3,170 passing yards and 24 touchdowns against six interceptions.

But The Game presented problems for McCord, and his play was ultimately a deciding factor in the 30-24 loss. An early interception set up an eventual 1-yard touchdown run from Blake Corum. McCord also tossed a pick on the final drive to ice the game in Ann Arbor.

In one breath, McCord’s mishaps led to the loss. In another, Ohio State wouldn’t have stood a chance to mount a comeback without him. In multiple games throughout the regular season, McCord delivered vital throws that led to wins, most notably his game-winning 75-yard drive against Notre Dame in Week 4.

Day acknowledged McCord’s maturation throughout the season, stating the first-year passer made continued progress with each rep.

“I think he’s a good quarterback — I do. You just, after every year, you kind of evaluate everything and try to figure out what to do next,” Day said. “But I think there was a lot of progress made this year.”

McCord was highly scrutinized for his play after the Buckeyes’ loss at Michigan Stadium, receiving significant backlash on social media. Day said he’s helped McCord’s mental health by “building up the armor ahead of time” for such moments.

“[You] obviously follow back up with it to see how things are going, which all happened. But, yeah, [I’m] not sitting here saying it’s easy. It’s not,” said Day. “There’s a lot that comes with it. And just because you identify that early on doesn’t make it easy.

“We got a lot of people who care about him around here.”

Ohio State could turn to Brown over McCord in Arlington, depending on results from practice.

“I can’t sit here and tell you I know for sure about any of those things right now, but everyone’s gonna have an opportunity to compete and get after it during the bowl practice,” said Day. “And then when it’s time to go play in the game, we’ll figure out who should get the reps and go from there.”

The Buckeyes could be aggressive in looking to add a quarterback via the transfer portal in the coming weeks after it opens Monday. Several names to monitor include Washington State’s Cameron Ward, Kansas State’s Will Howard, and Duke’s Riley Leonard, though Leonard is expected to have interest from Notre Dame.

Should McCord and Brown return following the bowl game, the Buckeyes would have four quarterbacks on scholarship for spring practice, including freshman Lincoln Keinholz and four-star recruit Air Noland.