Devin Brown knew what was happening the moment his cleat got stuck in the turf of AT&T Stadium.
The pain in his ankle was all too familiar. It was the exact same ankle injury he had suffered in October against Penn State that had sidelined him for five games, just in the other foot.
In one quarter, everything he had worked for in the month since Kyle McCord entered the transfer portal was gone. The Cotton Bowl was his chance to show that he could be Ohio State’s starter. Instead, he was stuck on the sidelines as true freshman Lincoln Kienholz struggled to get into any rhythm during a 14-3 loss to Missouri.
“I was just sick,” Brown said. “Sitting there after the game thinking about how I couldn’t help, I wasn’t able to do anything. I think I had two and a half drives, and for a little injury to happen, again, on the other leg, it was a struggle.”
For the last year, Brown has been trying to leave his mark on the Ohio State program. But every time he has gotten a chance, something derails the momentum.
Last spring, he was competing with McCord but suffered a broken thumb and was forced to sit out of the spring game. In the fall, head coach Ryan Day made a goal-line package for him, but then came the ankle injury against Penn State. And again in the bowl game. He had not dealt with any injury issues in high school, and now he couldn’t escape them in the biggest moments.
“For it to be stripped away, it feels like it was all for naught. It’s like a waste of time, almost,” Brown said. “But at the same time, I cherish that moment and am thankful for that moment.”
That’s why, with the Buckeyes set to begin spring football on Tuesday, Brown faced the media with an obvious chip on his shoulder. He’s part of another quarterback battle this offseason, this time with Will Howard. Although the job may look like it’s Howard’s to lose — the Kansas State graduate transfer has just one year of eligibility remaining — Brown has no intentions of just moving aside for the newcomer.
“I’m always going to think I’m the best QB in the room and in the country, so I’m going to attack it like that,” Brown said.
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After the Cotton Bowl, Brown returned home with his family to Arizona. The plan was simple: rest and allow his ankle to heal so he wouldn’t miss any of the program’s winter workouts. That all went as expected, and he didn’t miss much of the offseason schedule.
But while he was at home, Ohio State moved forward with its recruitment of Howard, who announced his commitment on Jan. 4, after the transfer portal had closed to undergraduates. Brown said he was kept in the loop and that Day gave him enough of a heads-up on the signing of Howard that if Brown wanted to enter the portal, he could have. He didn’t.
“I’ve said it through and through I’m a Buckeye, and I’m here to compete no matter what,” Brown said.
For some, though, that just sounds like a player giving cliche answers. Since Howard’s commitment, there have been assumptions that Brown would leave when the spring transfer portal window opened if he didn’t win the job. He’s not sure why people think that.
“They have this thought in their own head that I’m going to leave and I’m going to quit, but that’s never been me,” Brown said. “These people live in their mom’s basement saying stuff about me and they don’t know s—.”
For much of Brown’s career, even as far back as high school, he’s done nothing but bet on himself. He doesn’t care about outside narratives people have created, even when his family members show him tweets or articles of what people have said.
“I just don’t care,” Brown said. “I don’t care, good or bad, what somebody has to say about me.”
Although it’s hard to predict anything in the transfer portal era, Brown is focused on the chance he has this offseason. It’s one he can’t take for granted, because he’s been here before.
He has made some slight changes so that he can prevent another ankle injury, taping his ankle before practices and workouts and wearing a bigger shoe with more ankle protection instead of speed cleats. There’s no letting up for Brown, who has yet to get a chance to prove what he can do on the field.
Although everything hasn’t gone the way Brown might’ve planned it, he believes he’s a better person for going through the adversity. And he’s better prepared for his second Ohio State quarterback battle in as many years.
“That’s life,” Brown said. “It’s always going to be like that. All you can control is yourself and how you do it.”
(Photo: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)
