Julian Sayin’s Heisman Trophy Campaign is in High Gear As Ohio State Shells Penn State’s Vaunted Secondary

By Andy Anders on November 1, 2025 at 8:58 pm
Julian Sayin
Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
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Unsurprisingly, Julian Sayin was unaware in Ohio State’s postgame interviews that the legendary Nick Saban called himself a “dumbass” for using the briefly-Alabama, now-Buckeye quarterback as a scout team player during his freshman season.

While that’s impossible, as Sayin was only at Alabama for less than two weeks, it’s still a glowing compliment that the best college coach to ever do it paid his former recruit. And a funny moment for ESPN’s College GameDay.

Sayin, as always, stayed humble about those remarks.

“That's awesome,” Sayin said. “I appreciate the kind words, but this is a team game. And the offensive line did a great job today, receivers did a great job today, and none of it happens without us as an offense, as a collective.”

Continuing his humility, when a reporter asked Sayin about his completion percentage rising to now be 80.7% on the season, the quarterback called it a “team stat.” That number is a full 7% higher than any other starting quarterback in college football, by the way. He also leads the nation in passer rating (197.1), racking up 2,188 passing yards with 23 touchdowns and just three interceptions at a clip of 10 yards per pass attempt.

He won’t say it. Ryan Day might hedge it. But this writer, Sayin’s teammates, national pundits, sportsbooks and certainly Buckeye fans can scream it: The man should be the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy.

“I think there's some really good quarterbacks across the country this year,” Day said. “There's a lot of good quarterbacks in the conference. And so it'll be told when the season's over. I think it's easy to be it whenever Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, and try to make proclamations on where guys are. I think we have to see what the season holds for us and the progress that's made, and then we go from there. And I think even when you look at the Heisman Trophy, it's sort of after the season's over. ... But I do think that if Julian continues to play the way that he's playing, he deserves to be in the conversation at the very least.”

Sayin highlighted an explosive day for Ohio State’s passing game with five completions of 20 yards or more and three that went for 45 or more, as Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate both dominated with 120-yard performances. Sayin went 20-of-23 (87%) for 316 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. As great as so many quarterback and wide receiver combinations have been for the Buckeyes under Ryan Day, this year’s passing attack is starting to emerge as one of the best he’s ever had.

Eight weeks into the season, the Buckeyes have had the best quarterback and the two best wide receivers in college football.

“Those guys are the two best in the country, and they show it every Saturday,” Sayin said of Tate and Smith. “I see them practice on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when they go make plays against the best defense in the country. So I think it shows up within our week, and then it shows up on Saturdays.”

While Penn State’s season has been disastrous overall, one area that’s been a strength for the Nittany Lions is their pass defense. They entered Saturday as the No. 5 passing defense in college football, allowing just 145 yards per game through the air. Sayin and company more than doubled that number.

Three deep ball completions, mostly against quarters coverage (that’s four defenders dropping deep and playing match) showed the explosion that always lies dormant in the Buckeye passing game. The first strike, a 45-yard touchdown to Tate, was slightly underthrown, but the latest in a long line of spectacular catches that the wideout has made look far too easy. He reached back through the arms of a defender to snag the ball and plunge across the goal line.

Then came two 57-yard bombs that were perfect throws by Sayin, one to Tate and one to Smith. Neither man had to break stride after leaking behind the Penn State secondary.

“A lot of practice going into the week,” Sayin said. “We practice those a lot. And I think Coach Hartline and Coach Fessler and Coach Day, we do a great job of preaching that in practice. And then they make great adjustments and we're able to bring them in. And ran great routes to get behind (the defense). And we had a great scheme because we were able to get a flat-footed safety and have Carnell and Jeremiah run right by them.”

Outside of Sayin’s incredible accuracy, his feel for the pocket and ability to sense pressure, then escape it to either find an open receiver or scramble is also unparalleled. 

“That's something that's very hard to teach,” Day said. “When you can feel the rush and not have your eyes on it, your eyes can be down the field. You can anticipate what's happening and the ball coming out. Man, I'd like to tell you that we coach that, but we don't. He has that feel, and that's something that makes quarterbacks special. He has that trait.”

Day said one of the most important plays Sayin made came on a scramble. Ohio State led just 10-7 in the second quarter and faced 3rd-and-5 at its own 30-yard line. Left tackle Austin Siereveld had a rare lapse in pass protection against star Nittany Lion defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton, leading to Sayin having to evade not one but two pass rushers before dashing upfield for 9 yards and a first down.

"The third down, he broke the pocket, I was like 'Ooo hoo hoo hoo hoo, he making plays,'" safety Caleb Downs said. "But, I mean, I'm just excited for my guy."

Julian Sayin scramble

While it definitely wasn’t a perfect day for Ohio State’s offensive line protecting Sayin, Penn State still never recorded a sack, and Day felt it was a great sign that the front held long enough for the quarterback to deliver the deep balls that were dialed up.

“When you're pushing the ball down the field like we are, the first big play to Carnell, the one to Jeremiah, the other one to Carnell, those are probably three and a half second-plus plays,” Day said. “There's a lot of strain on those plays. So I thought that was well done.”

Not to be outdone by Tate’s earlier spectacular catch, Smith capped Ohio State’s dominant aerial assault with a one-handed touchdown catch off a batted ball. He wanted to make sure his quarterback graded out a champion in film review.

“See ball, get ball,” Smith said. “Defender tipped the ball. I didn't want Julian Sayin to throw an interception so he couldn't grade out a champion, so I just had to make a play.”

Smith didn’t mince words about what anyone with two working eyeballs – heck, one working eyeball – can see about him and Tate.

“Best in the country,” Smith said. “Nobody's better than us. Us two.”

Ohio State’s passing game somehow continues to take steps forward despite its already-incredible production to this point in the season. In the end, Sayin’s Heisman Trophy chances likely come down to The Game and the Big Ten Championship Game if the Buckeyes make it, though Purdue, UCLA and Rutgers are still on the docket first. 

“Julian's really getting more and more confidence every day,” Day said. “He works at it. I think the preparation that he puts in in that quarterback room is starting to show. His mind works as quick as the ball comes out. He's obviously accurate.” 

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