Branding Julian Sayin as a first-time starter just isn’t accurate anymore.
Sure, it’s true. But only technically. Ohio State’s quarterback in no way looked like a redshirt freshman making his first start on the road before a hostile Husky crowd.
Sayin’s stat line wasn’t gaudy – if still efficient – as he finished 22-of-28 (79%) for 208 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. But the second year’s decision-making and pocket presence were both beyond his years in a test he passed with sky-touching colors.
“Coach Day has been preaching that to us all week, is having poise in the noise out there,” Sayin said. “And I think we did a good job of just having poise in the loud environment. And our mindset was just keep swinging. Things aren't going to go our way the whole time. There's going to be momentum shifts, so we've just got to keep swinging.”
Ohio State needed its field general to stay poised as the offense got off to a strange start in its 24-6 win over Washington.
The Buckeyes’ first drive went 45 yards all the way down to the Huskies’ 5-yard line, but a 4th-and-1 handoff to CJ Donaldson was stuffed at the line of scrimmage for a turnover on downs. Even in that doomed possession, however, Sayin flexed great decision-making – and a bit of athleticism.
Sayin’s legs hadn’t been a factor through three games for Ohio State entering Saturday, but they became a part of the conversation starting with this 3rd-and-7 scramble when he found no one open. It came up half a yard short of the first down after review, but he set up the Buckeyes with a great fourth-down opportunity rather than put the ball in harm’s way. He finished with a sack-adjusted total of 19 yards on three carries.
“It was just what kind of the game called for a couple times,” Sayin said. “They were either dropping out eight guys and there were only three guys rushing, or they were playing man coverage and nobody had the quarterback. So I think it was just a couple times where it was kind of what the game called for, and I had to go make a play with my legs.”
But a more important use of Sayin’s legs was in his ability to extend plays. He had a fantastic feel for pressure against the Huskies, often able to evade defenders with a climb of the pocket or a duck and roll out to one side or the other. He stepped to the side and hung in strong for a 17-yard touchdown strike to Jeremiah Smith on 3rd-and-12 for Ohio State’s first score of the game.
JEREMIAH SMITH TO THE HOUSE!@OhioStateFB takes the lead! pic.twitter.com/N75bXuDKcl
— CBS Sports College Football (@CBSSportsCFB) September 27, 2025
He did it again on a key first-down completion to Carnell Tate, finished by a fantastic catch from the wide receiver.
“We kind of knew what we were going to get there, and they ended up bringing it,” Sayin said. “I had to drift and kind of get out of there, and Jeremiah did a nice job of finding the window, and the receivers got some great blocks.”
What a toe drag by Carnell Tate @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/Yer3FfmheW
— CBS Sports College Football (@CBSSportsCFB) September 27, 2025
That’s what pocket presence is. That’s what poise in the noise is. And sometimes, the play-extension was to throw the ball away if no one was open. Great decision-making under center from Sayin, traits he’s shown since his starting debut against then-No. 1 Texas in Week 1.
Like that Texas game, Ohio State stuck with a plodding, methodical game plan. Downright conservative at times, though that’s not the word Ryan Day would use. Ten of the Buckeyes’ first 13 play calls were runs, even if they finished with 32 called passes and 31 called runs.
“When you have a defense that is playing the way it is right now, you can play with confidence knowing that you don't have to score every single possession,” Day said. “You can control the clock and play it, I wouldn't say more conservative, but you understand time, score, and situation.”
The Buckeyes only had three possessions in the first half, thanks in part to a fumble by Brandon Inniss on punt return. But they scored going into halftime, scored coming out and scored on each of their possessions in the second half except the one that ran out the clock to end the game.
“The middle eight, that's it,” Day said. “So many games are won and lost in the middle eight. So for us to score there and then come back, before you turn (around), it's 14-7. We're gonna look back on this first quarter and just get sick. But that's football too, and that's on the road. I gotta tell you, when you wake up in the morning and you go, okay, here we go. Who knows what's gonna happen in this type of a game?”
“We gotta get on the film. We gotta learn from it. We gotta get better at it, because if we're gonna go where we wanna go in terms of this team, we gotta be better in those areas. But it would have been very easy to get discouraged, and we didn't. Hung in there, kept swinging, kept battling.”
Washington also tied Ohio State’s hands by playing conservatively on defense, constantly bailing its defensive backs and taking away deep passes at all costs. Rather than force those throws, Sayin took his open checkdowns, resulting in his 79% completion rate and two Buckeye scoring drives that lasted 5:30 or longer. Its third-quarter-opening touchdown trek lasted 14 plays and 7:41 to go 75 yards to the end zone.
“We had to take what they were giving us,” Sayin said. “There wasn't many opportunities for big shots and we just had to keep playing. It was going to be longer drives. And I think we did a good job of executing.”
Sayin played efficient, winning, poised football in a raucous Husky Stadium, plain and simple. And he’s done it enough times now to simply say that that’s who he is as a quarterback. He’ll never not be poised in the noise.
