Ohio State finally has a starting quarterback and the 2023 season is about to begin.

That gives us plenty of topics for conversation on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays.

We start today’s show by evaluating Ohio State’s decision to name Kyle McCord the starting quarterback and how likely he is to be the starter all year long. We also assess Ohio State’s indecision at free safety and how much of a concern that could be for the Buckeyes’ defense and explore why Jayden Fielding beat out Parker Lewis to be the Buckeyes’ kicker.

After that, we take a brief look at this weekend’s matchup with Indiana – which we both expect to be a decisive win for the Buckeyes, though only one of us believes Ohio State will pull away early. Then, we discuss our expectations for Ohio State’s 2023 season as a whole and make some predictions for whether the Buckeyes will have a Heisman finalist, who their offensive and defensive MVPs will be, which under-the-radar players will have breakout seasons and whether Ohio State will have a top-10 offense and a top-10 defense.

A timeline of the main topics we discuss in this week’s episode: