Luke Fahey’s ‘one hundred percent’ answer raises stakes for Ohio State against Oregon

Luke Fahey’s first public comments as the Ohio State Buckeyes’ starting quarterback came Thursday on Ryan Day’s radio show on 97.1 The Fan, ahead of Saturday’s home game against the Oregon Ducks. The true freshman had not been made available to beat reporters this season, so the show was the first time fans heard him describe how the job landed on him.

Fahey was asked about taking the next step against Oregon, and he also walked through the stretch between Julian Sayin’s injury at the Indiana Hoosiers on Oct. 17 and the trip to the USC Trojans.

Eleven Warriors reported that he also talked about his dream of being a starter and his desire to improve.

“One hundred percent. I think after the first start, I will hopefully start to settle down. That first week was definitely rough, but I’m excited to move forward. … My mind was going in all kinds of different places, so I was thinking about a lot of different things. Before I knew it, it was one week before we were playing, and then before I knew it, we were taking off [for California]. It happened pretty quick,” Fahey said, Bill Rabinowitz reported.

How rough was Luke Fahey’s first start against USC?

The roughness he described was mostly in the days before kickoff, and the box score was kinder. Fahey went 21 of 38 for 260 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in the 30-18 loss, and several big drops hurt that line. Ohio State piled up 464 total yards and still settled for three field goals on its first five drives, with 11 penalties along the way. Its only touchdown came with 2:12 left.

Day stayed with Fahey over Tavien St. Clair after both took first-team reps during the bye week, and he put much of the USC result on the people around Fahey. “There’s things to build on there for sure. But we’ve got to do a better job around him, helping him out as a young player,” Day said Tuesday.

Why Ohio State needs Fahey settled in right now

At 6-2, the Buckeyes have little room left for another loss, and Day said on Thursday’s show that they are “starting the playoff season right now.” He also said Sayin won’t return in the next month, which covers a regular season that ends against the Michigan Wolverines on Nov. 28.

Oregon comes in at 5-3, allowing 208.0 passing yards per game. Fahey will make his first start at Ohio Stadium at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, this time with a week of preparation as the announced starter.

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