Kyle McCord is enjoying a second act at Syracuse.

A senior quarterback who transferred from Ohio State last winter, he has led the Orange to wins in the first two weeks and put up some of the best passing numbers in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

The strong start from McCord, who started for the Buckeyes last fall, has drawn praise from a host of observers, including his former coach.

“I’m happy to see Kyle do well,” Ryan Day said. “He won some great games here and poured a lot of effort into the program.”

McCord has completed 59 of 85 passes (69.4%) for 735 yards and eight touchdowns with one interception in his two starts. LSU's Garrett Nussmeier is the only other FBS quarterback who has thrown for as many touchdowns.

“I’ve only seen a few highlights,” Day said, “and it looks like he’s doing a great job. It looks like in the first couple of games he’s gotten in a good rhythm, got a great win this past weekend.”

The Orange’s 31-28 win over Georgia Tech on Saturday was their first over a ranked opponent since 2022. The Yellow Jackets had been ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press poll. In their season opener, they defeated Ohio 38-22.

Relaxed transfer rules in college football have resulted in an increase in movement among players, particularly at quarterback as passers seek more opportunities to secure starting jobs.

Quinn Ewers, who spent a semester at Ohio State in 2021 before transferring to Texas, is also among the top FBS quarterbacks.

Following a win at Michigan on Saturday, Ewers became the betting favorite for the Heisman Trophy as the most outstanding player in the sport. Five years ago, Joe Burrow, a former Buckeyes quarterback who ended up at LSU for his final two seasons in college, won the Heisman.

“We’ve had our great quarterbacks here,” Day said, “but it’s the way of the world.”

The likelihood of quarterbacks transferring is high enough that part of the Buckeyes’ pitch to high school quarterbacks is that they could benefit later in their college careers from a handful of years at development at Ohio State.

“We sell that to guys,” Day said. “When you come to Ohio State, you’re going to get developed at a high level at every position, but at quarterback, I take a lot of pride in that and the fact that we develop guys at a high level.

“Even if you were to leave, we don’t want you to leave, but even if you were to leave, it’s still time well spent and invested in.”

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @joeyrkaufman or email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State's Ryan Day discusses Kyle McCord's strong start at Syracuse