Three Stars of the Game: Julian Sayin, Arvell Reese and Jeremiah Smith Earn Top Honors for Their Performances Against Penn State

This week, the Eleven Warriors staff selected Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin, linebacker Arvell Reese and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith as the Buckeyes' top performers in the team's 38-14 win over Penn State.

First Star: Julian Sayin

Sayin for Heisman.

The redshirt freshman quarterback completed 20 of 23 passes (87%) for 316 yards and four touchdowns in Ohio State's win over Penn State. In the past five games, Sayin has completed 82% of his passes for 1,409 yards and 15 touchdowns. This season, Sayin has completed 80.7% of his passes for 2,188 yards, 23 touchdowns and three interceptions.

That's not just good — that's Heisman Trophy good.

Ryan Day agrees.

“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.”

Ohio State’s passing game somehow continues to take steps forward despite already producing at an incredible level this season. 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 on the schedule first.

Second Star: Arvell Reese

On a defense that has midseason AP All-Americans like Caleb Downs, Sonny Styles, Caden Curry and Kayden McDonald, Arvell Reese may be the best player. He sure looked like it against Penn State, when he collected a team-leading 12 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack.

This week's "Arvell Reese is really freaking good" tweet.

Speed. Burst. Violence. What a weapon. pic.twitter.com/fnQ1moA83a

— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) November 1, 2025

This season, Reese paces the Buckeyes with 54 tackles — nine more than Styles' 45, which ranks second on the team. Reese's nine tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks rank second behind Curry, who has 10.5 tackles for seven sacks on the year.

Third Star: Jeremiah Smith

You could make a case for Carnell Tate (five catches, 124 yards, one touchdown) or Kenyatta Jackson Jr. (four tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, one pass breakup) to be Ohio State's Third Star, but Smith's statistics (six catches, 123 yards, two touchdowns) and theatrics earn him the nod:

JEREMIAH SMITH ARE YOU KIDDINGpic.twitter.com/mZvsWyiy6a

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 1, 2025

Do we need to write more?

In addition to Sayin, Ohio State launched a Heisman campaign for Smith on Sunday. This season, the 6-foot-3, 223-pound sophomore has recorded 55 catches, 725 receiving yards and 10 total touchdowns. He and Tate have proven to be college football's best wide receiver duo in 2025, as Tate has 39 catches for 711 yards and seven scores on the year.

“If there’s two better wide receivers in the country, I’d like to see them," Day said of Smith and Tate. "They deserve to be up for a lot of awards, too.”

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.