Ohio State walk-on quarterback Chad Ray "officially" became a Buckeye when he shed his black stripe this week.
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) April 12, 2023
weve got a new member of the QB room. welcome to the brotherhood, @chad_ray31 #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/4RdH0Ttm6i
The football program's Twitter account tweeted Ray's black stripe alert following Ohio State's 13th spring practice on Wednesday. The news comes after head coach Ryan Day announced sophomore quarterback Devin Brown would miss the rest of the spring, including Saturday's spring game, after having "a procedure" done on his throwing finger.
Ray will enter his third year with the Ohio State program in 2023. He has yet to enter a regular-season or postseason contest for the Buckeyes but has provided depth behind quarterbacks like C.J. Stroud, Kyle McCord and Devin Brown over the past two seasons.
Before his time with the Buckeyes, Ray played football and baseball at Dublin Scioto High School in Dublin, Ohio – a suburb located 15 minutes northwest of downtown Columbus and Ohio State's campus. As a senior in 2019, Ray completed 60% of his passes for 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Irish.
Ray is the 10th Buckeye to shed his black stripe this spring. The latest Ohio State players to participate in the program's rite of passage were freshmen Jelani Thurman and Malik Hartford and sophomore walk-on Chase Brecht. Here is the complete list of black stripe removals in 2023:
| PLAYER | POS | DATE | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| TEGRA TSHABOLA | OL | MARCH 23 | R-FRESHMAN |
| GEORGE FITZPATRICK | OL | MARCH 23 | R-FRESHMAN |
| DAVISON IGBINOSUN | CB | MARCH 25 | SOPHOMORE |
| CARNELL TATE | WR | MARCH 25 | FRESHMAN |
| TRISTAN GEBBIA | QB | APRIL 1 | GRADUATE |
| QUINTON BURKE | OL | APRIL 1 | SENIOR |
| JELANI THURMAN | TE | APRIL 7 | FRESHMAN |
| MALIK HARTFORD | S | APRIL 7 | FRESHMAN |
| CHASE BRECHT | RB | APRIL 7 | SOPHOMORE |
| CHAD RAY | QB | APRIL 12 | R-JUNIOR |
