Three Stars of the Game: Julian Sayin, Carnell Tate and Arvell Reese Earn Top Honors For Their Performances Against Wisconsin

This week, the Eleven Warriors staff selected Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin, wide receiver Carnell Tate and linebacker Arvell Reese as the Buckeyes' top performers in the team's 34-0 win over Wisconsin.

First Star: Julian Sayin

Julian Sayin for Heisman.

Following a Week 8 performance in which he completed 36 of 42 passes for a career-high 393 yards and four touchdowns, Sayin has the third-best Heisman Trophy odds (+410) behind Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza (+270) and Alabama’s Ty Simpson (+320), according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Sayin looked dialed from the opening possession against Wisconsin, completing 8 of 8 passes for 62 yards and a touchdown pass to Carnell Tate (featured below in the Second Star section). From that drive on, Sayin continued to deliver strike after strike for Ohio State, including another touchdown pass to Tate and additional scores to Will Kacmarek and Brandon Inniss.

In total, Sayin completed passes to 10 different Ohio State pass catchers:

• Jeremiah Smith: 9 catches, 97 yards (13 targets)
• Carnell Tate: 6 catches, 111 yards, 2 touchdowns (7 targets)
• Bo Jackson: 5 catches, 57 yards (5 targets)
• Max Klare: 5 catches, 29 yards (5 targets)
• Brandon Inniss: 3 catches, 26 yards (4 targets)
• CJ Donaldson: 3 catches, 26 yards (3 targets)
• Quincy Porter: 2 catches, 30 yards (2 targets)
• Mylan Graham: 1 catch, 10 yards (1 target)
• James Peoples: 1 catch, 5 yards (1 target)
• Will Kacmarek: 1 catch, 2 yards, 1 touchdown (1 target)

“He’s the truth,” Tate said of Sayin. “He’s a Heisman winner. There’s no ifs, ands or doubts about it. Each and every week, he shows us he’s a Heisman winner.”

Second Star: Carnell Tate

Earlier this week, Carnell Tate told reporters he was “due for another” big game soon. It turns out that meant this week.

Tate’s performance opened with a 15-yard reception. Then, he turned heads with yet another ridiculous touchdown catch — his first… second… third… of the season? We don’t know. We’ve lost count.

While the following Ohio State drive ended in a field goal, Tate found the end zone for the second time to cap off the Buckeyes’ third possession. He ended the first quarter with four catches, 85 yards and two scores.

Tate finished the game with six catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns, bringing his season totals to 34 catches, 587 yards and six scores. Those numbers would rank No. 1 on most teams, but Ohio State has Jeremiah Smith, who leads the team with 49 catches, 602 yards and eight total touchdowns.

When a reporter asked Sayin whether Smith or Tate makes a better Biletnikoff Award candidate, the Ohio State quarterback laughed.

“It’s really tough,” he said. “We got two guys when it’s one-on-one and you’re looking on both sides, you’re like, I have full confidence that both these guys are gonna go score a touchdown for us. It’s really tough. But we have a great receiver room here and these guys make some great plays for us.”

Third Star: Arvell Reese

Someone in the comments section of the postgame Eleven Warriors Poll said it best: The defense was so spectacularly boring, I can’t even pick anyone from that side of the ball.

Yeah, it was hard to.

Then we saw Arvell Reese’s stats: four tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack.

Week after week, NFL draft analysts and scouts drool over Reese, who has emerged as a top-10 prospect in 2026 — and for good reason. He is an athletic freak, and his production is off the charts. This season, Reese has a team-leading 42 tackles with 6.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, two pass breakups and two quarterback hurries.

Reese and his linebacker teammate, Sonny Styles, have proven to be the best duo in the nation at the position. Styles had two tackles, one tackle for loss and one interception against Wisconsin. His 39 tackles only trail Reese for the team lead in takedowns, and he has 2.5 tackles for loss and the aforementioned interception to boot.

As the season continues, we’ll track the stars (or points) each Ohio State player receives in 2025. Here’s how we’ll do it: Each time a Buckeye earns the First Star of the Game, that Buckeye adds three points to their season total. Then, the Second Star and Third Star each add two points and one point to their totals.