Buckeyes' Ryan Day set sights on Quinn Ewers when the now-Texas quarterback was 8th grader

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ryan Day has been eyeing Quinn Ewers since he was in eighth grade. He will get another look at his former recruit from the opposing sideline at the Cotton Bowl soon.

Now, Ewers is set to wrap up his third year as starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns with the Jan. 10 matchup against Day's Buckeyes.

Before that, he was the nation's top prospect when he reclassified to the Class of 2021, his lone season in Columbus.

And long before even that, Ewers was a talented junior high school kid who showed up for a camp at Ohio State and, Day said, “just had a tremendous release.”

“And I remember grabbing him and grabbing his dad and said: ‘Man, you got a bright future ahead of you,’” Day recalled on Friday, a week before the on-field reunion. "I don’t know if this is good or bad, but we’re going to offer you a scholarship to Ohio State, even in eighth grade. Again, I don’t know if that’s legal or not but we did.

“And then we went through the process. And boy, it was strange how it all shook out. He decided to come, really, in the middle of preseason camp for us. And so it was a little bit strange. But again with college football you look to adapt the best you can.”

It wasn't a storybook ending for the pairing, though their careers have gone just fine on separate paths toward the same goal: a national championship.

CJ Stroud took over the Ohio State offense and emerged as a star on his way to going to the Houston Texans as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft.

Ewers headed to Texas for a more immediate chance at a starting job. He has passed for 8,845 yards with 66 touchdowns against 23 interceptions for the Longhorns.

“It was disappointing for us, but we certainly understood,” Day said. "And from afar, I’ve watched him, and he’s got a lot of talent. He’s a really good player. He comes from a great family. And he’s had a great career at Texas.

“And a lot of people here still have good relationships with him and think the world of him.”

But the Buckeyes coach and onetime young prodigy will meet again on opposite sides.

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The Associated Press