Columbus, Ohio - Will Ohio State surprise the college football world and open the season with two quarterbacks in the starting lineup against Indiana?

The abundance of talent at Ohio State football is exceptionally evident, especially with head coach Ryan Day's recent revelation about the difficulty in selecting a starting quarterback for the 2023 college football season.

Recently, Day disclosed to reporters that the Ohio State football staff was evenly divided in their vote for the starting quarterback, leading to a surprising suggestion from Day.

"We're going to have a quarterback, and we might have two," Day said when asked if people can expect to see both McCord and Brown take starter snaps against Indiana.

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"If I sat here right now, I think that both deserve to play," Day added.

In the Buckeyes season opener and for the first time in Day's head coaching era at Ohio State, fans might see two quarterbacks - Kyle McCord and Devin Brown - start in the showdown against Indiana.

Under Day, Ohio State has never had a quarterback competition come this close to the start of the season. And while the Buckeye leader at the helm seems confident that one player will seemingly emerge ahead of the other, the Buckeyes will have a tall order this season boasting one of the more difficult schedules in college football.

Establishing a sense of early consistency will undoubtedly be crucial for the Buckeyes' shot at another glorious College Football Playoff appearance.

While Ohio State's defense will have to prepare for Indiana's quarterbacks Tayven Jackson and Brendan Sorsby, Indiana preparing to face either Kyle McCord or Devin Brown is an entirely different ball game.

"It creates challenges. Because there are two different quarterbacks, we have to go through and plan for both," Indiana head coach Tom Allen said on Wednesday.

Allen added: "When you expect both of them to play, and it looks like that's going to be the case, then you have to have plans for each individual. Obviously, their core concepts are going to be consistent, but the skill set of each player is really different. Both [McCord and Brown] are very, very talented players. Both do different things in a different way."

Whether Ohio State opts for a nominal starter by September 2 or continues with a two-quarterback system at the beginning of the year, the absence of clarity presents challenges that the Hoosiers must hurdle.

"If they were identical, it might be a little bit easier, schematically, to have a plan," Allen said. "There are definitely some situational things that are going to differ with those two."