Ryan Day had a special message for Devin Brown ahead of the quarterback’s first career start in the Cotton Bowl.

For the regular season, Brown served as the backup to Kyle McCord and spent time sidelined after an injury against Penn State. While he made some strides in the regular season, it was never enough for Day to give Brown reps ahead of McCord down the stretch.

With McCord now off to Syracuse, Brown will get the start against Missouri with a chance to show what he can do. Day was asked about the situation on ESPN ahead of kickoff, and the head coach admitted he’ll find out what Brown is made of in the game.

As for what Day wants to see out of Brown, he simply told the QB to take care of the ball, compete and win the game. Day also expects Brown to play through some early nerves before settling in.

“We’ll know what we got after watching him in the game. It’s one thing in practice, it’s another thing to go play in a game. He’ll have some nerves early on, but he’ll play through that,” said Day. “The No. 1 goal I told him is just go win the game. Don’t worry about anything else, just go win the game, compete your tail off and take care of the football.”

While he did not see extensive playing time, Brown was 12-for-22 passing the ball this season with 197 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception. Brown also has a rushing touchdown and is expected to be a factor in the running game for the Buckeyes.