With every start, Julian Sayin has showcased different aspects of his game, continuing to look more experienced than a first-year starter.
In his first road start at Washington on Saturday, the trend continued as the redshirt freshman completed 22-of-28 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns while leading the Buckeyes to a 24-6 win in Seattle.
Whether it was first-road-game jitters in a hostile environment or just acclimating to a stadium that hadn't seen its home team lose in it since 2021, Sayin got off to a quiet start. Through the first 26 minutes of the game, he completed only four of seven passes for 25 yards. But he followed that up by throwing 10 straight completions for 81 yards and a touchdown.
Whether it was Ryan Day and Brian Hartline opening the playbook a bit or Sayin settling in, he dominated the second half. He completed 15-of-18 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown in the game's final two quarters.
“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.”
As Chris Lauderback alluded to in Five Things, Sayin was superb on third down, a key part of the game. The quarterback completed four of five passes for 58 yards on third downs, all four of which resulted in first downs.
To take a closer look at Sayin's performance against Ohio, we charted all 28 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.)
While Sayin was superb with deep and intermediate throws in the first three games of the season, he struggled on throws beyond 10 yards downfield against Washington. He didn't attempt a single throw more than 20 yards downfield in Seattle and completed only two of six passes for 29 yards on throws 10-19 yards downfield. In fact, his first completion that was thrown 10-plus yards downfield didn't take place until there was 3:01 left in the third quarter.
That said, Sayin certainly took advantage of Washington's soft zone coverage, completing 12-of-14 short passes for 115 yards. He also completed eight passes behind the line of scrimmage for 64 yards and two touchdowns. It was the most completions he had in both those areas of the field so far this season.
“We had to take what they were giving us,” Sayin said. “There weren'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.”
| DEPTH (YARDS) | 2025 |
|---|---|
| 20+ | 7/7 (100%), 352 YARDS (50.3 PER ATTEMPT), 5 TD |
| 10-19 | 9/16 (56.3%), 139 YARDS (8.7 PER ATTEMPT), 2 TD |
| 0-9 | 40/52 (77%), 324 YARDS (6.2 PER ATTEMPT), 1 TD, 2 INT |
| BEHIND LOS | 22/24 (91.7%), 172 YARDS (7.2 PER ATTEMPT), 2 TD, 1 INT |
As the season has gone on, Day, Hartline and company have relied more and more on the play-action part of the passing game. Against the Huskies, Sayin threw 12-play-action passes – a season high – and completed 10 of those for 96 yards. Without play action, he completed 12-of-16 passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns against Washington.
While the running game usually opens up the passing game, the opposite was true this past Saturday against Washington. Ohio State tried to rely on its running game much more often in the first half before deciding to throw the ball more often in the second half, which turned the tide of the game.
| PLAY ACTION | NON-PLAY ACTION | |
|---|---|---|
| at washington | 10/12 (83.3%), 95 YARDS (7.9 PER ATTEMPT) | 12/16 (75%), 113 YARDS (7.1 PER ATTEMPT), 2 TD |
| vs. ohio | 9/11 (81.8%), 150 YARDS (13.6 PER ATTEMPT), 1 TD, 1 INT | 16/21 (76.2%), 197 YARDS (9.4 PER ATTEMPT), 2 TD, 1 INT |
| 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 | 34/42 (81%), 467 YARDS (11.1 PER ATTEMPT), 3 TD, 1 INT | 44/57 (77.2%), 520 YARDS (9.1 PER ATTEMPT), 7 TD, 2 INT |
Sayin was pressured on eight dropbacks at Washington, the most of the season so far. He completed four of six passes for 49 yards and a touchdown in those situations. He was superb against the blitz, completing seven of eight passes for 52 yards and two touchdowns, checking down a lot when Washington brought extra pressure.
| PRESSURE | 2025 |
|---|---|
| kept clean | 67/81 (82.7%), 851 YARDS (10.5 PER ATTEMPT), 8 TD, 2 INT |
| under pressure | 11/18 (61.1%), 136 YARDS, (7.6 PER ATTEMPT), TD, 1 INT |
| not blitzed | 52/64 (81.3%), 698 YARDS (10.9 PER ATTEMPT), 4 TD, 2 INT |
| blitzed | 26/35 (74.3%), 289 YARDS (8.3 PER ATTEMPT), 6 TD, 1 INT |
When he wasn't throwing the ball, Sayin also made multiple plays with his legs for the first time this season. Not counting the seven-yard sack, he combined to run for 19 yards on three carries. And when he didn't take off with the ball, Sayin did a very nice job of escaping pressure by moving subtly in the pocket, moving out of the pocket a bit or getting rid of the ball while facing pressure.
Below, we take a look at six of Sayin's best plays of the night, including movement in the pocket, scrambles, and passes:
Good Scramble: Julian Sayin Runs for Six Yards to Make it Fourth-and-Short
While he will learn to stick the ball out to try and ensure a first down once he gains more experience, Sayin's ability to make a play with his legs after no receivers were open and the pocket was collapsing was very promising, even if it didn't result in moving the chains.
Good Throw: 11-Yard Completion to Carnell Tate
In what was a wonderfully drawn up play, Sayin turns his body while rolling to his right and finds a wide open Tate in the middle of the field, who nearly scores a touchdown.
Sayin to Carnell Tate sets up a first and goal for Ohio State! pic.twitter.com/gY5iiNh6L3
— CBS Sports College Football (@CBSSportsCFB) September 27, 2025
Good Throw: 11-Yard Completion to Carnell Tate
While Tate made a fantastic play, it shouldn't go unnoticed that Sayin pump-faked a throw to James Peoples out of the backfield, rolled to his left, and then delivered a dime while on the run to Tate right on the sideline.
Carnell Tate pic.twitter.com/p1TAUIwIh7
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 27, 2025
Good Run: Julian Sayin Scrambles for 12 Yards
On 3rd-and-17, the quarterback found open space to his left and took advantage of it to give Jayden Fielding a much easier field goal opportunity on the next play.
Good Throw: 18-Yard Completion to Max Klare
With the pocket collapsing, Sayin feels the pressure from his right and moves slightly to his left while keeping his eyes downfield and finds the tight end for the first down.
Julian Sayin with a STRIKE to Max Klare! @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/PJLHZ9if3d
— CBS Sports College Football (@CBSSportsCFB) September 27, 2025
Four games into his career as a starter, Sayin has been nothing short of impressive as he ranks among the best in the FBS in key passing statistics:
- First in completion percentage (78.8%)
- Eighth in yards per attempt (10.0)
- Fourth in QB Rating (189.8)
- Tied for 21st in passing touchdowns (10)
Sayin's passing chart through the first four games of the 2025 season:
