Ohio State Freshman Luke Fahey In Line For First Start

Ohio State freshman Luke Fahey could make his first college start Saturday against the USC Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, stepping in for injured starter Julian Sayin. Sayin has been ruled out indefinitely after hurting his throwing arm.

Coach Ryan Day has not named a starter between Fahey and sophomore Tavien St. Clair. Sayin exited Ohio State's game at Indiana in the fourth quarter. Fahey entered facing second-and-28, scrambled for 8 yards and drew a late-hit penalty that moved the chains. He finished 0-for-2 passing as the Buckeyes closed out a 19-15 win.

Day said he liked what he saw from the freshman that afternoon. "He's got confidence, he's got athletic ability, he's a competitive kid," Day said. "I don't think the moment was too big for him." The coach has also described Fahey as having "a moxie about him" and a drive to be great.

Fahey beat out St. Clair for the backup job during preseason camp. He stands 5-foot-11 and was not rated a five-star recruit. Day told him at a recruiting meeting that Ohio State wanted him anyway, citing work ethic and a history of winning.

His high school coach at Mission Viejo, Chad Johnson, rates Fahey as the best quarterback he has coached, ahead of 2018 first-round pick Josh Rosen and DJ Uiagalelei. Fahey threw for more than 7,000 yards in high school and helped Mission Viejo to a state title as a sophomore. Johnson let him call every play during 7-on-7 work before his senior season, and Fahey regularly changed protections and route concepts at the line.

The family's Ohio State roots go back to 1898, when Luke's great-grandfather Edward Gorman enrolled at the university. Gorman met his first wife there; her brother, Walter "Rink" Barrington, quarterbacked the Buckeyes from 1906 to 1908. Luke's grandmother Rosemary later attended Ohio State and met his grandfather Robert, a Korean War veteran; both worked in the university library and married in 1958.

Stephen Fahey, Luke's father, watched Ohio State lose to Stanford 27-17 in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day 1971, a game featuring Buckeyes quarterback Rex Kern. Stephen was 7 years old when he watched the Buckeyes win the national championship after the 2014 season alongside Luke. Stephen plans to be at the Coliseum on Saturday.

Fahey's parents are gone: Robert died 34 years ago and Rosemary died in 2020. Stephen said his mother always expected Ohio State to be part of the family's story. "We didn't expect that your son would have another chapter," he said.