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Five-star forward Anthony Thompson, the No. 8 overall prospect in the 2026 class, commits to Ohio State.
There are Heisman moments, then there are Heisman-type performances.
On Saturday, it was a Heisman performance for Julian Sayin throughout the entire game, as the redshirt freshman quarterback put the rest of college football on notice.
In the Buckeyes' 34-0 shutout win over Wisconsin, Sayin had a career day for Ohio State. He completed 36 of 42 passes for 393 yards and four touchdowns in the victory – numbers that hadn’t been seen from a Buckeye quarterback since C.J. Stroud’s iconic Rose Bowl performance against Utah to conclude the 2021 season.
A career day for Julian Sayin in Ohio States shutout win over Wisconsin.
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) October 18, 2025
The redshirt freshman completely 36 of 42 passes for 394 yards and four touchdowns.
He did some things that havent been done in awhile for the Buckeyes:
Most pass attempts since 11/26/22: C.J.
Sayin was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week for his career day.
After keeping things conservative in the passing game for much of the first half of the season, Ryan Day, Brian Hartline and Co. opened up the offense early and often for Sayin on Saturday. Eight of Ohio State's nine plays on its first drive of the game, which resulted in a touchdown, were passes, all of which Sayin completed. The Buckeyes' second run of the game came with 2:41 left in the first quarter, the opening play of OSU's third drive.
Sayin completed his first 10 passes of the game. In the first quarter alone, Sayin completed 14 of his 15 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns. By halftime, Sayin had completed 23 of 26 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns.
To put that in perspective, Sayin's previous career-high was 25 completions. He averaged 20 completions per game in the first six games of the season.
"We really tried to put a lot on his plate today and let him push the ball down the field."@OhioStateFB head coach Ryan Day with some high praise for QB Julian Sayin pic.twitter.com/RKq7RxZRh3
— CBS Sports College Football (@CBSSportsCFB) October 18, 2025
“We really tried to put a lot on his plate today and let him push the ball down the field. I thought he made some really good decisions,” Day said in his postgame interview with CBS. “I thought there were some really good catches as well, but he's making good decisions. I thought he made a couple of really good scramble plays down the stretch as well.”
To take a closer look at Sayin's performance against Wisconsin, we charted all 42 of his pass attempts in the win. (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 having the worst game of the season throwing the deep ball a week before at Illinois, Sayin made up for it in Madison. He threw a season-high five passes 20-plus yards downfield against Wisconsin. Although he only completed two of those deep balls, one was one of his best throws of the game: a 33-yard touchdown to Carnell Tate.
He started the season by completing all of his first seven deep throws, but has only completed five of his past 11 passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield in his last three games. While it has decreased significantly, especially in the last two weeks, Sayin's 66.7% completion rate on throws 20-plus yards downfield is the second-best mark in the country among quarterbacks who have thrown at least 10 deep balls this season.
Sayin dominated in the intermediate and short areas of the field against the Badgers. He completed all eight of his throws between 10-19 yards downfield for 121 yards and two touchdowns. In the first six games of the season, he had thrown for only 279 yards and two touchdowns combined in that area of the field.
Sayin completed 21 of 24 short throws against Wisconsin for 188 yards and a touchdown, certainly taking advantage of his playmakers and the Badgers' soft coverage on the outside.
| DEPTH (YARDS) | 2025 |
|---|---|
| 20+ | 12/18 (66.7%), 533 YARDS (29.6 PER ATTEMPT), 7 TD |
| 10-19 | 24/37 (64.9%), 400 YARDS (10.8 PER ATTEMPT), 4 TD |
| 0-9 | 85/102 (83.3%), 709 YARDS (7.0 PER ATTEMPT), 5 TD, 2 INT |
| BEHIND LOS | 35/38 (92.1%), 230 YARDS (6.1 PER ATTEMPT), 3 TD, 1 INT |
After his worst performance of the season on play-action passes against Illinois, Sayin had one of his best games of the season in that concept at Wisconsin, completing 18 of 21 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown in play action.
The redshirt freshman's 78.9% completion rate on play-action passes is the sixth-best mark in the country, while his 950 yards in that concept is the fourth-most in the FBS. Sayin's 90 pass attempts with play action are the eighth-most in the country.
He also completed a season-high 18 passes without play action for 213 yards and three touchdowns against the Badgers.
| PLAY ACTION | NON-PLAY ACTION | |
|---|---|---|
| At wisconsin | 18/21 (85.7%), 181 YARDS (8.6 PER ATTEMPT), 1 TD | 18/21 (85.7%), 213 YARDS (10.1 PER ATTEMPT), 3 TD |
| at Illinois | 5/9 (55.6%), 50 YARDS (5.6 PER ATTEMPT) | 14/18 (77.8%), 116 YARDS (6.4 PER ATTEMPT), 2 TD |
| vs. minnesota | 11/15 (73.3%), 186 YARDS (12.4 PER ATTEMPT), 2 TD | 12/12 (100%), 140 YARDS (11.7 PER ATTEMPT), 1 TD |
| 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 | 71/90 (78.9%), 950 YARDS (10.6 PER ATTEMPT), 6 TD, 1 INT | 85/105 (81%), 923 YARDS (8.8 PER ATTEMPT), 13 TD, 2 INT |
Sayin dominated when the pocket was kept clean, completing 31 of 34 passes in those situations for 344 yards and two touchdowns. When he was under pressure, the quarterback completed five of eight passes for 50 yards and two touchdowns.
That said, Wisconsin blitzed on 17 of Sayin's 45 dropbacks and he took advantage of the Badgers bringing extra pressure. Sayin completed 13 of 14 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown when Wisconsin blitzed.
While Sayin has only been under pressure on 20.8% of dropbacks, which is the fourth-best mark in the FBS among quarterbacks who have been pressured on at least 20 dropbacks, he has been the best quarterback under pressure all season. Sayin has completed 69.4% of his passes under pressure, the best mark in the FBS.
Sayin's 82.5% completion rate when opponents blitz is the best in the country, while his 10 touchdowns against the blitz are tied for the second-most in the FBS. Opponents have brought extra pressure on 33.3% of the quarterback's dropbacks, which is tied for 37th in the country.
After throwing six touchdowns when he wasn't blitzed in the first six games of the season, Sayin threw three touchdowns when Wisconsin didn't blitz him on Saturday.
| PRESSURE | 2025 |
|---|---|
| kept clean | 131/159 (82.4%), 1,611 YARDS (10.1 PER ATTEMPT), 15 TD, 2 INT |
| under pressure | 25/36 (69.4%), 262 YARDS, (7.3 PER ATTEMPT), 4 TD, 1 INT |
| not blitzed | 104/132 (78.8%), 1,314 YARDS (10.0 PER ATTEMPT), 9 TD, 2 INT |
| blitzed | 52/63 (82.5%), 559 YARDS (8.9 PER ATTEMPT), 10 TD, 1 INT |
Below, we take a look at six of Sayin's best throws in the game and one bad throw, while it's certainly worth noting that the latter is nitpicking given how well Sayin played on Saturday.
Good Throw: 33-yard Touchdown to Carnell Tate
Tate will get all the praise for his incredible catch, and deservedly so, but Sayin put the ball right on the money, right where only his receiver could get it with multiple defenders closing in.
CARNELL TATEpic.twitter.com/2tdBW0w33O
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 18, 2025
While discussing Carnell Tates incredible catch on his 33-yard touchdown, Ryan Day said that the junior had never practiced that play but ran it one time against Purdue as a freshman in 2023.
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) October 19, 2025
That was a really great catch. Thats an All-American catch, Day said. pic.twitter.com/3MQSAHzW5c
Bad Throw: Deep Incompletion to Jeremiah Smith in the End Zone
Smith still had a chance to possibly catch this ball and made a good play to ensure that it wasn't an interception, but if Sayin had led him a little bit farther into the end zone, it could have been a touchdown.
Good Throw: 27-yard Completion to Carnell Tate
While on the run, Sayin throws it right over a Wisconsin defender to where only Tate can catch it.
Good Throw: 10-yard Touchdown to Carnell Tate
Again, Sayin throws it to where only Tate can catch it with the high ball and the wideout shows off his hands for his second touchdown of the game.
The Carnell Tate Game? More like *A* Carnell Tate Game pic.twitter.com/hCDqbLsjpb
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 18, 2025
Good Throw: 19-yard Completion to Carnell Tate
A perfect throw right to Tate on the sideline. The Sayin-to-Tate connection seems really, really good.
Julian Sayin and Carnell Tate's connection >>>pic.twitter.com/9CsmvC4cbQ
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 18, 2025
Good Throw: 16-yard Completion to Bo Jackson
Sayin feels the pressure, moves up in the pocket, and after keeping his eyes downfield, checks it down to his running back as Jackson does the rest of the work.
Good Throw: 13-yard Touchdown to Brandon Inniss
Sayin saved one of his best throws of the game for last.
Feeling the pressure on the edge, Sayin runs outside the pocket and throws an absolute dart to Inniss in the back of the end zone for a touchdown on his final pass attempt of the day.
Julian Sayin with an absolute strike to Brandon Inniss pic.twitter.com/O7k5g5GiU4
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 18, 2025
Sayin has now completed at least 70% of his passes with at least two touchdown passes in each of his last six games, becoming just the fifth quarterback to hit those numbers in six consecutive games. The other four quarterbacks: 2023 Heisman finalist Bo Nix, 2020 Heisman finalist Trevor Lawrence, 2019 Heisman winner Joe Burrow and 2018 Heisman winner Kyler Murray.
Is this good?
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) October 19, 2025
For reference, thats four first-round NFL draft picks andredshirt freshman Julian Sayin. pic.twitter.com/fXZXfE7KA5
Even then, Sayin says he must continue to improve every week.
“I'm really just playing one game at a time and trying to do my best to execute the offense and keep improving,” Sayin said. “I think our offense is all about just keep improving week by week. We're not where we want to be yet. We want to be playing our best football in December and November.”
That said, Sayin has already been excellent as he ranks among the best in the FBS in each of the following key passing statistics:
- First in completion percentage (80%)
- Seventh in yards per attempt (9.6)
- Second in QB Rating (189.7)
- Tied for fourth in passing touchdowns (19)
- Fourth in QBR (88.4)
Sayin's passing chart through seven games of the 2025 season:
