COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State coach Ryan Day says Georgia transfer Justin Fields will be the starting quarterback when the No. 5 Buckeyes open the season Aug. 31 against Florida Atlantic.

Day’s announcement Monday put a rubber stamp on what most figured was a foregone conclusion.

As Ohio State’s newly minted coach, Day lured Fields — one of the top-ranked prep prospects nationally in the 2018 recruiting class — to Columbus in January to succeed quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr., who is now playing for the NFL’s Washington Redskins.

Since training camp opened, Day insisted that Fields would have to beat out graduate transfer Gunnar Hoak, an Ohio kid who played only sparingly at Kentucky. Hoak is expected to be Fields’ backup.