Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith were like a pair of inebriated old friends following Saturday’s win over Purdue.
‘You’re the best, man.’
‘No, YOU’RE the best.’
Many people have had some form of that conversation following a few adult beverages. Except in Sayin and Smith’s case, it was, ‘No, YOU deserve the Heisman.’
“Jeremiah Smith, the guy is special,” Sayin said when asked who his Heisman Trophy pick is. “He’s a great player. I don't know what the stats say, but he had a great day. He made some great catches, had the one touchdown catch, so he's a special player.”
“That’s Julian Sayin’s trophy right there,” Smith said. “The Heisman goes to Julian Sayin.”
The connection between Sayin and Smith is at the level of the Wondertwins. 65 of 79 Sayin’s targets of Smith have resulted in completions, despite all the attention the superstar commands from opposing secondaries. That’s a completion rate of 82.3%.
Their powers were fully activated with Carnell Tate absent against Purdue. Each of Sayin’s 10 targets of Smith resulted in receptions, giving Smith a career-high 10 of them for 137 yards and a touchdown. Sayin finished the day 27-of-33 (82%) for 303 yards and one touchdown with one interception.
“When Carnell was unavailable, that certainly changed things quickly on some of the things that we had,” Ryan Day said. “But it was still, I mean, for Jeremiah to still have the impact he did, not having Carnell on the other side of the ball, just speaks volumes to what he does and just how impactful he is.”
There have been few things more gorgeous in college football this season than a Julian Sayin deep ball. He’s completed 68.8% of his throws of 20 or more yards this year. If that were his overall completion percentage, it would rank 18th nationally. By now, most reading this know of his total evisceration of the completion percentage leaderboard; he’s now up to 80.9% on the year, 8% better than any quarterback in the country. Eight percent.
Sayin connected with Smith on two of his picturesque bombs vs. the Boilermakers. The first set up Ohio State’s first touchdown, a 31-yard strike placed elegantly on Smith’s back shoulder to allow the receiver to go make a spectacular catch.
Jeremiah Smith Is Not Human pic.twitter.com/xjAOidJHDQ
— wok (@dontsipwok) November 8, 2025
The other deep connection was pure accuracy, timing and touch from Sayin – an all-caps DOT to Smith on a skinny post for a 35-yard touchdown. Sayin has 864 of his 2,491 yards and 11 of his 24 touchdowns on throws greater than 20 yards downfield this season.
“It's very pretty,” Smith said of what a Sayin deep ball looks like. “Just looking at the ball coming down, you're about to catch it. You just got to see it for yourself to experience something like that. But every ball that he throws is on time and perfect.”
SAYIN TO SMITH TUDDY @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/SzA0fsxlgC
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 8, 2025
Smith continues to do things that no Ohio State wide receiver has done before him. On top of his perfect 10-for-10 catching his targets, he scored his 25th career receiving touchdown in just 25 games, the fastest Buckeye ever to reach that landmark.
“It feels good,” Smith said. “Just another day in the office, I should say. But I’ll do it again next week, because it's all about staying consistent. That's all that matters.”
Much of the offseason between Sayin and Smith was spent building their rapport. It’s the countless hours spent building their chemistry – and the chemistry Sayin has shown with Tate – that many don’t see. Smith is up to 66 receptions for 862 yards and 10 touchdowns this year.
“A lot of hard work that went into that (connection) from this offseason, spring, fall camp. So, I mean, y'all just seeing a byproduct of everything. But there's a lot of hard work that goes into that.”
They weren’t the only factors that made Ohio State’s passing game prolific against Purdue. Sayin spread the ball around plenty. Tight end Max Klare made five receptions for 59 yards. Brandon Inniss, upgraded to the Buckeyes’ No. 2 wideout, hauled in three receptions for 26 yards. Bryson Rodgers made a pair of nice grabs for 30 yards.
“Carnell is obviously a great player, makes a lot of impact,” Sayin said. “But it was awesome to see some of the young guys step up and make some great catches. Bryson Rodgers, Mylan Graham, Brandon Inniss, obviously, playing a lot. So it was awesome to see.”
Sayin did have two blemishes in his otherwise spotless performance, an overthrow of Klare on a would-be touchdown and an ill-advised interception he forced back against his body into the teeth of Purdue’s defense near the goal line. The pick, only his fourth of the year, negated a 15-play, 68-yard drive to open the second half for Ohio State.
Day expects his quarterback will learn from such mistakes. Sayin took accountability and more than made up for it throughout the game.
“They ended up dropping eight guys down there, and I was being reckless with the football,” Sayin said. “It's something that I gotta own. It can't be taking chances like that down in the red zone. We have a field goal at that point, throw it away.”
Sayin is probably the better candidate for college football’s ultimate individual award. The oddsmakers would indicate as much. But both of them could be receiving an invite to New York at this rate – and each will be the other’s top supporter to take it home.
“It means a lot,” Smith said. “It means a lot for the university. It means a lot for this team. We haven't had a winner in, what, since Troy Smith (in 2006)? So that means a lot for the university and for us, too.”
