Five Things: Taking Stock of the Buckeyes Following 3-0 Start With B1G Play Up Next

By Chris Lauderback on September 21, 2025 at 10:10 am
Julian Sayin
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Following a perfect 3-0 start including a win over then-No. 1 Texas to begin the season, Ohio State enjoyed an "improvement week" on the schedule.

Ryan Day's squad gets back at it next Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. ET in the form of a road matchup with the talented Washington Huskies. 

Jedd Fisch's crew will enter the contest with its own 3-0 record and a high-powered offense orchestrated by a quarterback, Demond Williams Jr., drawing comparisons to Kyler Murray from Day and OSU defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. 

That said, Ohio State's own offense has shown explosive ability and the defense has been lights out, creating much anticipation for next Saturday in Seattle. 

For now however, let's dig into Five Things from Ohio State's three-game win streak to begin the 2025 slate. 

SAYIN LOOKS THE PART

Fueled by Day's assertion the quarterback battle was very real as it bled into fall camp, you couldn't blame the subset of fans not totally confident in what QB1 was going to look like for the Buckeyes, especially early in the season, knowing Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz had very little collegiate experience. 

But Sayin seized the job as formally announced on August 18 and the redshirt freshman has steadily built momentum through the first three games. 

His 78.9% completion percentage ranked No. 2 nationally before yesterday's games while his yards per attempt (11.0) and rating (199.76) slotted third. 

Sayin was asked only to be a game manager for much of the season opener against Texas but still managed to throw for a touchdown and avoid turnovers. Over his last two contests, albeit against lower level competition, he's successfully opened up the passing offense throwing for seven touchdowns bringing his season total to eight. Sayin needs to clean up the interceptions, having thrown three although just one was truly awful - a telegraphed red zone throw. 

Beyond those few mistakes, his short-to-intermediate throws have featured elite ball placement and his deep ball has steadily progressed with two long touchdown tosses last weekend showcasing excellent touch. 

Something to watch as the competition ratchets up starting this week will be how Sayin performs when his top two targets, Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, aren't always open and he has to go through his progressions more often. 

I'm bullish on Sayin's performance thus far and just as bullish in expecting him to keep improving. A top-10 Heisman voting finish wouldn't surprise me in the least. Hell, I suppose it's not completely out of the realm of possibility he could be tabbed a finalist but obviously there's a long way to go. 

WR3 OFF TO A SLOW START

There's been a bit of consternation among the fan base as first year starting slot receiver and team captain Brandon Inniss has gotten off to a slow start, at least from a stats perspective. 

The No. 5 ranked wide receiver in the 2023 class, Inniss has just five catches (on five targets) for 37 yards and one rushing attempt for 8 yards through three games. The low output triggered his drop from No. 11 to No. 24 in our latest Buckeye 20 but I think it's a bit premature to worry if Inniss is up for the job. It should also be noted Brian Hartline this week shared he was very much happy with Inniss' performance-to-date. 

I'm in the camp that believes Inniss hasn't gotten more chances not because he isn't getting open but because Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate are often the primary and/or secondary targets on passing plays and those two guys were almost always open against the level of competition faced thus far. 

Against Texas, Smith got 10 and Tate two of Sayin's 20 total targets. The duo combined to receive 10 and 18 targets respectively against Grambling State and Ohio. 

And let's not forget OSU obviously has a deep tight end room with viable pass catchers in Max Klare, Will Kacmarek and Jelani Thurman among others. 

At this point, before I worry too much about the slot, I want to see how Inniss performs and if his targets receive a bit of a boost as stiffer competition, like Washington, approaches and maybe the headliner guys aren't wide open on every route. 

SILVER BULLETS THRIVING EARLY 

Even with some of the highlights on offense, the story of the 2025 team through three games is the defense's performance. 

New DC Matt Patricia's schematics combined with a cadre of talented players had Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning seeing ghosts in the opener. Since then, it's become clear the Manning hype was way out of control but there's no denying the defense was dominant in what was still a matchup game from a position-by-position talent standpoint. 

That dominance continued with a shutout of Grambling State and in holding Ohio to nine points. Entering yesterday's action, Ohio State ranked No. 2 nationally giving up just 5.3 points per game with the Longhorns, Tigers and Bobcats all failing to reach double-digit points. 

Again entering yesterday's games, the Buckeyes were the only red zone defense yet to surrender a point (four trips allowed). 

It's fair to wonder if this defense can be better than last year's championship unit or the 2019 group but there's a lot of football left to be played. While the defensive line has been better than I expected, it's still not on par with last season's front four. The linebackers however have been even better this season - certainly more athletic than a season ago - thanks to the ongoing seasoning of Sonny Styles but more importantly the breakout of Arvell Reese. That man's physical gifts are off the charts and Patricia has deployed him in numerous ways to stifle opposing offenses. 

The back seven is at least a wash compared to last year so far, if not better. Davison Igbinosun is less handsy in coverage versus last year, at least so far, and Jermaine Mathews Jr. has looked great at the other corner spot. OSU may experience a bit of a drop off in the slot compared to what Jordan Hancock was able to give a season ago but Caleb Downs is still Caleb Downs and Jaylen McClain has been fantastic filling Lathan Ransom's shoes. Long way to go but man the back seven is easy to get excited about. 

GROUND GAME SHUFFLE

One of the more evolving aspects of Ohio State's arsenal is the run game, particularly, who does the running. 

CJ Donaldson got the start in the season opener and while he outshined backup James Peoples, the duo combined to crank out a modest 87 yards on 3.0 yards per carry against the Longhorns. Donaldson showed some power and recorded a touchdown but the Donaldson/Peoples combo combined for a long run of eight yards as neither looked very explosive and Peoples seemed to struggle spotting the hole. 

As you'd expect, both guys looked better against Grambling State with Donaldson averaging nine yards on five carries and Peoples averaging 7.4 on eight totes but the real story was third-string tailback Bo Jackson breaking out with 108 yards on nine carries and a touchdown. 

Last week against Ohio was more of the same as Jackson went for 109 yards on nine carries while Donaldson (4.3 ypc) and Peoples (6.7 ypc) looked fine but nowhere near as good as Jackson. 

The true freshman simply hits the hole faster and has more shakes than his counterparts. 

I summed it up the way I wanted to in last Sunday's Five Things so I'll share it again here: 

There's just a different feel when Jackson touches the ball compared to CJ Donaldson and James Peoples. Jackson hits the hole with more speed and velocity and has found much more success getting to the second level while Donaldson (4.6 ypc) and Peoples (5.0 ypc) seem more plodding through the line of scrimmage. 

Through three games, Jackson has seven runs of at least 10 yards in just 18 carries. Meanwhile, Donaldson and Peoples have combined for six runs of at least 10 yards... in 58 total carries. 

It's a long season, Day will need all three guys, and there's more to being the starting running back at Ohio State than just carrying the football but there's seems little doubt Jackson is at least the best at doing that part right now. 

FIRST YEAR STARTERS DANIELS AND MCCLAIN BRINGING IT 

When you lose 14 guys to the NFL Draft, it's inevitable you'll be counting on a host of first-year starters to step up the following season. 

Many of the guys playing first-year starting roles knew in April they'd be starters this fall. Names like Arvell Reese, Kayden McDonald, Jermaine Mathews Jr., Austin Siereveld, Caden Curry and Kenyatta Jackson Jr. fit that description and all but maybe one of them have been really, really good so far. 

There were then a host of other guys vying to be first-year starters that didn't know until fall camp they'd be tabbed, as they fought legit competition to win the starting role. Julian Sayin is one of those guys and due to his position, we're all clear on how he's performed. 

What has impressed me is how two other guys that fought through all of fall camp to earn starting roles have performed. Those two are right tackle Phillip Daniels and safety Jaylen McClain. 

Daniels has brought a nastiness to the offensive line and a real confidence that he can dominate anyone across the line of scrimmage. I don't know the PFF ratings off the top of my head but I know the eye test says this guy has been a gamer, plays with an edge and is not just looking to win his matchups but embarrass his opponent. Daniels has nothing to be complacent about since he wasn't here to win a natty last season but man I love not just the results but the manner in which he's gone about his business.  

Within a back seven full of stars and alongside the best defensive player in college football, it's easy to overlook what McClain has given this defense. The reality is however that McClain's readiness to start, knowledge of the defense and overall skill level have been at least one reason why Patricia's been able to line up Caleb Downs all over the field. 

McClain has looked like a wily veteran at the back end of Ohio State's defense despite logging just 106 snaps a season ago. He's currently second on the team in tackles with 17 - three behind Reese - and he seems to get better every game. 

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