When Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin left the game against Indiana on Oct. 17 with an injury, backup true freshman Luke Fahey replaced him. It caught former OSU coach Urban Meyer by surprise.
"Once again, I don't have insider information, but when I saw that [Luke] Fahey jogged on the field, I remember going 'Wait a minute, where is [Tavien] St. Clair? What's happening here?'" Meyer said on "The Triple Option" show Oct. 20.
In Ohio State's preseason camp, OSU coach Ryan Day said that Tavien St. Clair, a former five-star recruit, would split second-team reps with Fahey, a former three-star, in practices. By the time the Ball State game came
around on Sept. 5, it was Fahey, not St. Clair, who entered the contest after Sayin's day was done.
Fahey played on three drives against the Hoosiers. He finished 0 for 2 on throws with one sack taken and -2 yards rushing. Entering the first drive on second-and-28, Fahey rushed for an eight-yard gain and was hit late by Indiana's Isaiah Jones, resulting in a penalty and a first down.
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Fahey got the ball back after punting on the first drive, but the Buckeyes went three-and-out and punted again. On his third drive, Fahey kneeled twice after the defense sealed the game by preventing an Indiana score with a minute remaining.
With Sayin expected to miss "weeks," according to Day, Meyer believes Ohio State could still start St. Clair.
"I'm curious to see if they try the five-star," Meyer said. "I know how talented he is, and it's perplexing why he's not the quarterback and why he doesn't jog on the field when Sayin went down."
St. Clair stood out during the spring game in April. The Bellefontaine native was also the first Ohio high school quarterback since Joe Burrow to sign a scholarship agreement with Ohio State. He was a top-10 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class and the third-highest-rated quarterback in the modern rankings era to join the Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes have an off week before they have to send out a new starter on the road against USC on Oct. 31.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Urban Meyer reveals what puzzled him about Ohio State's backup QB decision
