Ryan Day is happy to see Kyle McCord's success so far at Syracuse

Through his first two games as the starting quarterback for Syracuse, Kyle McCord is putting up some big numbers as the Orange have raced out to a 2-0 start in the young 2024 season.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound McCord, a former five-star recruit from Philadelphia, went 11-1 a season ago in his junior year with the Buckeyes, although Ohio State fell to fierce rival and eventual national champion Michigan.

After the Buckeyes lost to the Wolverines, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was noncommittal about whether McCord would continue on as the team's starting signal-caller. So McCord entered the transfer portal this past offseason, eventually deciding to spend his senior season with the Orange. He's known several Syracuse coaches, including head coach Fran Brown, for many years.

Following the Orange's Week 1 triumph over Ohio at home, Brown had a little fun when he said , "I mean, Kyle's a good football player, you seen it right there. I should send Ryan Day a bottle of champagne for allowing us to get him."

In Week 2, the Orange scored a three-point win over No. 23 Georgia Tech. McCord had a stellar outing , completing 32-of-46 passes for 381 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

Ahead of Week 3, when Syracuse will have a bye, McCord is among the national and Atlantic Coast Conference leaders in a variety of statistical categories at the quarterback position, including total passing yards, passing yards per game, and touchdowns through the air.

Earlier this week, Day was asked about McCord's tenure to date with Syracuse.

"I've only seen a few highlights, and it looks like he's doing a great job," Day said, via On3's Andy Backstrom . "It looks like the first couple games, he's gotten a good rhythm and got a great win this past weekend. ...And so, you know, happy to see him doing well so far this season. ...He won some great games here and poured a lot of effort into the program."

Entering week three, Ohio State (2-0) resides at No. 3 in the Associated Press top-25 poll. The Buckeyes appear to be a significant contender to win the Big Ten Conference title and earn a bid to the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.

Syracuse, meanwhile, is eyeing a third consecutive bowl berth in the 2024 season. The Orange have challenging games remaining on the schedule (most notably Boston College and Miami), but if McCord continues his excellent play, it's conceivable that Syracuse could make some noise in the ACC race and enter the top 25 polls sooner rather than later.