Apr. 12—COLUMBUS — Tavien St. Clair saved his best for last in Ohio State's spring game Saturday.
The Bellefontaine High School graduate had a rocky start in his first game in an Ohio State uniform at Ohio Stadium, but the true freshman threw a touchdown pass to classmate Philip Bell to cap a two-minute drill as the seconds wound down in front of 40,136.
That left St. Clair 11-for-15 passing with 116 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in relief of third-year sophomore Lincoln Kienholz and redshirt freshman Julian Sayin, who are competing to replace Will Howard as the Buckeyes' starter under center.
Kienholz took the first snaps and also started slowly before ending up 12-for-18 passing for 158 yards and two touchdowns while Sayin completed 17 of 24 for 175 yards and a touchdown.
"Lincoln settled down after the first drive or so and made some nice throws, but I thought Julian for the most part early on was in rhythm and moved the team down the field for a couple of touchdowns, which was good," head coach Ryan Day said after the game. "He made some nice throws, but there was certainly a lot to grow from."
The crowd was the smallest for an Ohio State spring game since 2005 (33,918), perhaps owing to the early messaging from Day and the school about the day being a "spring showcase" instead of a game.
Overall, spring drills started two weeks later than usual as a result of the Buckeyes playing two extra games en route to winning the 2024 national championship, but the game Saturday ended up looking like its predecessors with the offense beating the defense 50-31 using a modified scoring system.
"I'm glad we did the spring game," Day said. "I wasn't sure, but it was definitely the right thing to do. I wish we could have stayed out there for another four hours to get these reps and get these guys some work."
St. Clair was one of several players fro local high schools to get an extended run of playing time Saturday.
Lakota West graduate Tegra Tshabola was the right guard with the first team, and Lakota East grad Austin Siereveld lined up to his right at tackle.
While evaluating offensive linemen live is next-to-impossible, Day said he is happy to have some experienced players to build around on the line.
That includes Tshabola, who started every game last season at one guard or the other, and Siereveld, who shared time with him at guard early in the season and ended up starting seven games as injuries forced the front to be remade twice en route to Ohio State winning it all.
Wayne graduate Joshua Padilla was the center on the No. 2 offensive line, capping a spring in which he seems to have solidified that role under new offensive line coach Tyler Bowen.
On the other side of the ball, junior Malik Hartford got the first snaps at boundary safety with the No. 1 defense while Alter grad C.J. Hicks began the day as the No. 2 left end, and Springfield's Aaron Scott Jr. was the field cornerback on the No. 2 defense.
Hicks and Scott both had some highlights and lowlights.
A senior-to-be who spent his first three seasons at linebacker, Hicks was flagged for a personal foul in the third quarter but rebounded to get a sack — or at least what counted as a sack when he got to the quarterback and the play was blown dead.
Scott had a nice pass breakup in the end zone early in the afternoon when he was isolated in coverage against Mylan Graham, but later he lost his footing as Graham ran an in-breaking route in front of him and caught a touchdown pass.
