Julian Sayin stood in the visitors’ locker room at Lucas Oil Stadium three weeks ago, sick to his stomach, watching the Indiana Hoosiers celebrate a Big Ten title that was supposed to belong to the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Five sacks. One interception on the opening drive. A failed quarterback sneak, as replay confirmed, came up inches short. The most accurate passer in the country looked, for the first time all season, like what he technically still is: a redshirt freshman.
“Not really a thought,” Sayin said when asked if he considered his Heisman Trophy chances after the 13-10 loss. “Just sick to my stomach that we lost and really wanted to win the conference for our university.”
That gut-punch response tells you everything about who Ohio State is trusting with its back-to-back championship hopes when the Buckeyes face Miami in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31.
How Julian Sayin’s Path to Ohio State Paved the Way for Stardom
Before the record-breaking completion percentage, before the Heisman ceremony in New York, before he became the centerpiece of college football’s most loaded offense, Sayin was a scrawny freshman at Carlsbad High chasing his older brother Aidan around a park in Southern California at 6 a.m.
The Sayin brothers invented their own quarterback HORSE during pandemic-era remote learning in 2020, calling their shots while buddies ran routes. The loser bought acai bowls. The grading was merciless.
“Anything that wasn’t on the face wasn’t worthy of even a B-plus,” Aidan, who went on to break records at Penn, told ESPN. “You had to be super accurate.”
Those mornings built the foundation for what became the most efficient passing season in Ohio State history.
Sayin leads the nation with a 78.4% completion rate, on pace to shatter the FBS single-season record of 77.4% set by Oregon’s Bo Nix in 2023. His 31 touchdowns against just six interceptions powered a 12-0 regular season, and his 90.8 PFSN College QB Impact Score trails only Diego Pavia, Fernando Mendoza, and Jayden Maiava.
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The path to Columbus took an unexpected turn. Sayin committed to the Alabama Crimson Tide as the No. 1 quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class, enrolled early, and was on campus for less than two weeks when Nick Saban retired. Two days after entering the portal, he committed to Ohio State.
Will Howard, who had just arrived as a transfer from the Kansas State Wildcats, immediately noticed something different about the kid from California.
“I had never really seen a ball come out of a dude’s hand that easily and that effortlessly,” Howard told ESPN. “I was like, ‘Geez, is this kid going to give me a run for my money here?'”
Howard won the job and led Ohio State to a national championship. Still, Sayin watched, learned, and waited. When his turn came in August, Ryan Day announced what everyone already knew: the kid who spent years perfecting his release at Pine Park was ready.
Sayin’s Redemption Awaits in Arlington
The Indiana loss exposed vulnerabilities that hadn’t surfaced through 12 dominant wins. The Hoosiers brought pressures and twists that Ohio State’s offensive line couldn’t handle, and Sayin completed just two of six passes when pressured. After being sacked only six times through the entire regular season, he went down five times in two-and-a-half quarters.
“We didn’t handle it very well at all,” head coach Ryan Day admitted following the game. “This was a major lesson for this team.”
But Day also defended his quarterback, noting that Sayin “played well tonight” and “didn’t make bad situations worse.”
The Cotton Bowl presents a different kind of challenge. Miami’s defense smothered Texas A&M in a 10-3 first-round win, recording seven sacks and allowing just a field goal. Pass rusher Rueben Bain Jr. got to the quarterback three times. The Hurricanes pose a nightmare scenario for a young passer.
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Ohio State enters as the defending national champion with perhaps even more firepower than last year’s title team. Jeremiah Smith, the likely No. 1 overall pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, caught 11 touchdowns this season. Carnell Tate might be the first receiver off the board in April. The Buckeyes’ defense allows just 8.2 points per game, the best mark in the country.
All of that talent means nothing if Sayin can’t find his rhythm against another elite pass rush. At the Heisman ceremony, where he finished fourth behind winner Fernando Mendoza, Day offered a reminder of what makes this moment different.
“Julian’s just getting started,” the Ohio State head coach said. “Julian’s a first-year starter, in a time where the guys who get invited to New York are multiple-year players, guys who have played a lot of football.”
Growing up in San Diego, Sayin idolized Marcus Mariota and watched his Oregon Ducks lose to Ohio State in the College Football National Championship Game. A decade later, he’s wearing scarlet and gray, trying to deliver a second straight title for the program that once broke his heart.
The Buckeyes have won four consecutive College Football Playoff games by an average of nearly 18 points. They’ve beaten the No. 1, No. 3, No. 5, and No. 7 seeds over the past two postseasons. They know how to win in January.
What they don’t know is how Sayin responds when everything goes wrong. He’s about to show them.
