COLUMBUS — Ohio State officially has a starting quarterback moving forward after head coach Ryan Day revealed a commitment to Kyle McCord during his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

“After reviewing the film, we decided that Kyle is going to be the starter and make that distinction. We still plan on playing Devin (Brown), but we feel Kyle has really stepped up and deserves to be the starter,” Day said.

After starting the season-opener at Indiana and playing all but one series in the game, McCord looked sharp in Saturday’s week-two win over Youngstown State, leading many to believe the endorsement from Day was imminent. Ultimately, Day was not ready to make the commitment following the game, although he admitted on Tuesday there was a good sense at the end of the game that McCord had earned the job.

“I just felt like, after the game, there was an overall poise and consistency that led us all to think, ‘Okay, Kyle is the guy right now,’” Day said.

Day credited McCord’s overall consistency as a primary factor in forcing the decision, identifying three specific areas he will need to continue handling well with tougher challenges ahead.

“He made some nice throws, kept the offense going, and came out of the gates playing efficient football. And that’s what we’re going to look for moving forward,” Day said.

By naming him the starter, Day expects both the peace of mind and the additional practice repetitions to be beneficial to McCord’s development. He also noted the decision should allow the entire offense to rally around one leader.

Pass-happy WKU offense to pose a different challenge

After two weeks of playing against offenses actively trying to shorten the game at the detriment of its team’s chances of winning, the Ohio State defense will face a vastly different challenge on Saturday against Western Kentucky’s air raid offense.

Last season, the Western Kentucky passing attack finished second in the country with an average of 352 passing yards per game. Led by returning starting quarterback Austin Reed, the Hilltoppers offense appears on its way to repeating similar production, having already thrown for 589 yards and six touchdowns through two games.

“They want to throw it and score a whole bunch of points, and the defense kinda works with the offense and the way it’s set up,” Day said of Western Kentucky. “I’m impressed with that. They have a clear identity.”

With a dangerous offense rolling into town, one week ahead of the looming showdown at Notre Dame, perhaps Saturday’s matchup would be deserving of the dreaded trap game label. Asked about guarding against his team looking past this week’s opponent, Day said there is too much his own team still needs to improve upon for them to be unprepared, especially when factoring in Western Kentucky’s capabilities offensively.

“For us, we know areas where we have to improve,” Day said. “And we have some guys who haven’t played a bunch of football, and we have some other guys who are looking to take the next step forward in their development. So I don’t see it as that (trap game) at all. We’re just not there right now (as a team), and we have to keep building and growing in all three phases. And we have a lot of respect for what they do, and we watched the way they played Auburn last year. They’ll put stress on us, and we have an opportunity to go out and play our best game of the year. That’s really what matters, and then we’ll go from there.”

Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on Twitter @DillonDavis56.