AUSTIN, Texas — Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day has been eyeing Quinn Ewers since he was in eighth grade. On Friday, Day will get another look at his former recruit from the opposing sideline at the Cotton Bowl.
Ewers is wrapping up his third year as the Texas Longhorns’ starting quarterback with a matchup against Day’s Buckeyes. But before that, he was the nation’s top prospect when he reclassified to the Class of 2021, his lone season in Columbus.
Long before that, Ewers was a talented eighth grader who showed up for a camp at Ohio State with “a tremendous release.”
“I remember grabbing him and grabbing his dad and said: ‘Man, you got a bright future ahead of you,’” Day recalled. “I don’t know if this is good or bad, but we’re going to offer you a scholarship to Ohio State, even in eighth grade … I don’t know if that’s legal or not but we did.
Day said it was strange how it all shook out after Ewers came in the middle of Ohio State’s preseason camp. However, it wasn’t a storybook ending for the pairing, though their careers have gone just fine on separate paths toward the same goal: a national championship.
CJ Stroud took over the Ohio State offense and emerged as a star on his way to the Houston Texans as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft.
Ewers headed to Texas for a more immediate chance at a starting job. He has passed for 8,845 yards with 66 touchdowns against 23 interceptions for the Longhorns.
“It was disappointing for us, but we certainly understood,” Day said. “And from afar, I’ve watched him, and he’s got a lot of talent. He’s a really good player. He comes from a great family. And he’s had a great career at Texas … a lot of people here still have good relationships with him and think the world of him.”
But the Buckeyes coach and one-time young prodigy will meet again on opposite sides. You can catch the Cotton Bowl showdown between Texas and Ohio State on Friday, Jan. 10 at 6:30 p.m. live on ESPN. And, yes, Bevo will be there.