In what will mark Ryan Day's first game as the team's head coach following Urban Meyer's retirement, a new era of Ohio State football will begin when the Buckeyes face Florida Atlantic on Aug. 31.
And when it does, we now know who Ohio State's starting quarterback will be.
On Monday, Day announced that Justin Fields will be the Buckeyes' starting signal-caller when they open the 2019 season next week. A true sophomore, Fields transferred to Ohio State from Georgia earlier this year and was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA in February.
Although it was largely expected that Fields would ultimately get the starting nod in Columbus, his path to the Buckeyes' starting lineup was hardly a conventional one.
Days after Fields publicly announced his decision to transfer to OSU, Heisman Trophy finalist Dwayne Haskins declared for the NFL Draft, where he was ultimately selected by the Washington Redskins with the No. 15 overall pick. But while Haskins' decision to forego his remaining eligibility was expected, what wasn't expected was that quarterbacks Tate Martell and Matthew Baldwin would each transfer from Ohio State to Miami (Fla.) and TCU, respectively.
That left Fields and senior Chris Chugunov as the only two scholarship quarterbacks on the Buckeyes' roster before Kentucky signal-caller Gunnar Hoak transferred into the program in April. To battle to succeed Haskins ultimately came down to a decision between Fields and Hoak, with the former getting the starting nod ahead of next week's season opener.
A former 5-star prospect, Fields arrived at Georgia last season as the nation's second-ranked prospect behind Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Appearing in 12 games behind Bulldogs starter Jake Fromm last season, Fields completed 27 of his 39 pass attempts for 328 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, in addition to rushing for 266 yards and 4 touchdowns on 42 attempts.