Super Sayin, indeed.
Julian Sayin was oh-so-close to being perfect on Saturday afternoon. None of his 19 passes hit the ground, but, unfortunately, one of those was a bad interception that he would love to have back.
But enough nitpicking, as the redshirt freshman had yet another superb game in his second career start. In a game that was essentially over even before it started, Sayin played only in the first half due to the Buckeyes' 70-0 shutout win over Grambling State on Saturday, but the quarterback certainly made the most of his two quarters of playing time.
Sayin completed a program-record 16 straight passes to start the game before throwing that interception in the end zone. In all, the gunslinger completed 18 of 19 passes for 306 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. It was a performance that earned him Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors.
“When you get those completions kind of racking up, it builds confidence,” Sayin said after the game. “And then the energy from the other players in the offense, when they start seeing we're moving the ball down the field like that, the other guys are bringing energy.”
To take a closer look at Sayin's near-perfect half against Grambling State, we charted all 19 of his pass attempts in the game. (Note: The passing chart is categorized by how many yards the quarterback threw the ball in the air past the line of scrimmage on each attempt and whether the ball reached its target inside or outside the hashes, though the stats listed include yards gained after the catch on each completion.)
After not attempting a single pass between the hashes in the season opener against Texas, Sayin completed both of his throws between the hashes against the Tigers on Saturday: a 47-yard touchdown to Will Kacmarek up the seam for his first score of the game and a 40-yard pass to Carnell Tate.
Sayin had plenty of success with the deep ball against Grambling State, completing all three of his passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield for 174 yards and two touchdowns. His 214 yards on four deep throws through two games are the 12th-most in the FBS. After Ryan Day admitted that Ohio State kept things conservative against Texas, it was very evident that the head coach wanted to open things up against Grambling State.
“You saw a lot more RPOs, you saw a lot of the things coming out of his hand,” Day said. “We actually started a drive, I think, maybe we were inside the 10, 20-yard line where we took a shot early and hit it. Down in the red zone, we were throwing it. We were really forcing the issue down there. And the more we're putting in his hands to manage the game. And I thought he did a nice job.”
Two games into the season, look for the quarterback to make more intermediate throws, as Sayin has as many throws 20-plus yards down the field (four) as he does between 10-19 yards downfield (four). His four passes in the intermediate part of the field rank 135th in the country.
| DEPTH (YARDS | 2025 |
|---|---|
| 20+ | 4/4 (100%), 214 YARDS (53.5 PER ATTEMPT), 3 TD |
| 10-19 | 2/4 (50%), 39 YARDS (9.75 PER ATTEMPT), 1 TD |
| 0-9 | 15/20 (75%), 126 YARDS (6.3 PER ATTEMPT), 1 TD, 1 INT |
| BEHIND LOS | 10/11 (90.9%), 55 YARDS (5.0 PER ATTEMPT) |
Ohio State used the play-action pass to its advantage against Grambling State, using that concept more often (11 times) than not using play action (eight). Sayin completed all 11 of his pass attempts in play action for 164 yards and a touchdown.
On the season, the first-year starter has completed 78.9% of his play-action passes compared to 80% of his non-play-action passes.
| PLAY ACTION | NON-PLAY ACTION | |
|---|---|---|
| vs. grambling state | 11/11 (100%), 164 YARDS (14.9 PER ATTEMPT), 1 TD | 7/8 (87.5%), 142 YARDS (17.8 PER ATTEMPT), 3 TD, 1 INT |
| VS. TEXAS | 4/8 (50%), 58 YARDS (7.3 PER ATTEMPT), 1 TOUCHDOWN | 9/12 (75%), 68 YARDS (5.7 PER ATTEMPT) |
| 2025 SEASON | 15/19 (78.9%), 222 YARDS (11.7 PER ATTEMPT), 2 TD | 16/20 (80%), 210 YARDS (10.5 PER ATTEMPT), 3 TD, 1 INT |
Ohio State's offensive line had yet another superb game, especially in pass protection. The group didn't allow a single pressure against the Tigers. Sayin dominated when Grambling State didn't blitz and did well when it decided to bring extra pressure.
| PRESSURE | 2025 |
|---|---|
| kept clean | 29/34 (85.3%), 418 YARDS (12.3 PER ATTEMPT), 5 TD, 1 INT |
| under pressure | 2/5 (40%), 14 YARDS (2.8 PER ATTEMPT) |
| not blitzed | 22/25 (88%), 351 YARDS (14 PER ATTEMPT), 4 TD, 1 INT |
| blitzed | 9/14 (64.3%), 81 YARDS (5.8 PER ATTEMPT), 1 TD |
Below, we take a look at a few of Sayin's best throws and his one bad throw in the blowout win over Grambling State.
Good Throw: 47-yard Touchdown to Will Kacmarek
There's something so great about a long reception by a receiver up the seam, especially when it's a tight end. It's even better when it's a touchdown.
Sayin saw the defender's back and threw a perfect ball to Kacmarek in stride as the tight end then did the rest of the work for Ohio State's first score of the game.
That was easy.
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 6, 2025
Julian Sayin finds Will Kacmarek to open the scoring for No. 1 @OhioStateFB.
: BTN pic.twitter.com/yXRgJV7q17
Good Throw: 87-yard Touchdown to Jeremiah Smith
Some will say it was easy because Smith was wide open on an out-and-up, but Sayin threw a perfect ball just above the Grambling State's defensive back's hands to lead to the second-longest touchdown pass in OSU history.
JEREMIAH SMITH TO THE HOUSE @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/QpZjBoxZNL
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 6, 2025
Good Throw: 13-yard Touchdown to Carnell Tate
It was a superb catch by Tate, but Sayin threw it in an area where only his wide receiver could catch it, which is vitally important, especially inside the red zone.
TATE HAULS IT IN
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 6, 2025
Julian Sayin is now 10 for 10 with 3 TDs for @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/bfBa0uly1T
Worst Throw: Julian Sayin's First Interception of the Season
The good news: It was Sayin's only incompletion of the day, and he got this bad throw out of the way in a blowout win. Day said after the game that Sayin immediately came over to the sideline, frustrated because the quarterback knew he had a touchdown if the throw was on time – when Tate first broke to the sideline – but instead threw it late, leading to an interception. The tape proved that, too.
“You never want to see an interception, but it's good to have some of these learning moments to understand just how it all works,” Day said. “And when you can get some of these first-time things behind you, it is good. But that's it, no more interceptions. Not allowed (laughs).”
Sayin has completed 79.5% of his passes and has thrown only eight incompletions this season. His completion percentage is the second-best in the FBS, only trailing Tulsa's Baylor Hayes, who has completed 82.4% of his passes (14 of 17). That said, of Sayin's eight incompletions thus far, three of them were dropped by his receivers in the season opener.
“It's crazy,” Smith said of Sayin’s accuracy. “I've been seeing it since his freshman year, since last year. Nothing surprises me at this point. He can make any and every throw, like I said before. He's controlling the offense at a very good pace right now, so I'm very excited for him.”
Sayin's 209.7 quarterback rating is the seventh-best mark in the country.
The redshirt freshman's passing chart through two games in the 2025 season:
