Breaking Down Julian Sayin’s Passing Chart at Purdue As The Ohio State Quarterback Continues His Extraordinary Efficiency

You could argue that Sayin had an OK day on Saturday in West Lafayette. Yet, the redshirt freshman completed 82% of his passes and threw for over 300 yards, the type of efficiency and yardage that has become standard for Sayin. He has completed at least 80% of his passes and thrown for 300-plus yards in three consecutive games and four of his last five games overall.

Even without Carnell Tate, the second-best wide receiver in the country, Sayin completed 27 of 33 passes for 303 yards, one touchdown and an interception in the win over Purdue. He completed 11 of his first 12 passes and never threw back-to-back incompletions in a game where he threw 17 passes in the first half, 13 passes in the third quarter and only three in the fourth quarter.

To take a closer look at Sayin's performance against Purdue, we charted all 33 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.

Sayin dominated in the intermediate part of the field, completing eight of a season-high 11 throws between 10-19 yards downfield for 140 yards. Before Saturday, his most pass attempts in that part of the field were eight, when he completed all eight in the win over Wisconsin.

Over the last three games, Sayin has completed 19 of his 22 passes thrown between 10-19 yards downfield for 313 yards and three touchdowns. To put that in perspective, in the first six games of the season, he threw for only 279 total yards and two touchdowns in that area of the field. His 68.6% completion rate in that area of the field is the 12th-best in the FBS.

After completing two of his three deep throws for 66 yards and a touchdown against Purdue, Sayin's 72% completion rate in that area of the field and 31.5 yards per attempt on those throws lead the FBS. His nine touchdowns on deep throws are the sixth-most in the country.

The difference between Sayin's efficiency with the deep ball and the second-most efficient thrower in that part of the field (Ole Miss' Trinidad Chambliss, 57.6%) is the same as it is between Chambliss and the 33rd-most efficient deep-ball thrower. Also, the difference between Sayin's yards per attempt on throws 20-plus yards downfield and the second-most (Kennesaw State's Amari Odom, 23.4) is the same as it is between Odom and the 37th-most yards per attempt in that area of the field.

To put Sayin's excellence on passes 20-plus yards downfield in perspective, if that 72% was his completion percentage on all throws, it would be the fifth-best in the FBS.

While Sayin did well both with and without play action against Purdue, his 14 completions and 16 pass attempts with play action were his second-most of the season. His 165 yards on those throws were the third-most of the season so far.

Sayin's 80.3% completion rate on play-action passes is the second-best in the country among quarterbacks who have thrown at least 50 passes in that concept, while his 1,254 yards on play-action passes are the third-most in the FBS. Ohio State has run play action on 46.3% of Sayin's dropbacks, the 11th-highest percentage in the nation.

Sayin completed 24 of 27 passes for 275 yards and a touchdown when the pocket was kept clean against Purdue. When he was under pressure, the quarterback completed only three of six passes for 28 yards and an interception.

When Purdue blitzed, Sayin completed nine of 10 passes for 62 yards. It's worth noting that the Boilermakers blitzed on 12 dropbacks, but Sayin was only under pressure on nine dropbacks.

While Sayin has only been under pressure on 23.9% of dropbacks, which is the 14th-best mark in the FBS among quarterbacks who have been pressured on at least 40 dropbacks, he has been the best quarterback under pressure over the course of the season. While he struggled a bit under pressure against Purdue, Sayin has completed 67.9% of his passes under pressure this season, the best mark in the FBS. His 9.1 yards per attempt while under pressure are the fifth-most in the country.

Sayin's 84.1% completion rate when opponents blitz is the best in the country, while his 14 touchdowns against the blitz are the second-most in the FBS. Opponents have brought extra pressure on 33.6% of the quarterback's dropbacks.

Below, we take a look at two of Sayin's best throws and his worst throw against Purdue:

Good Throw: 31-yard Completion to Jeremiah Smith

While it was so close to a touchdown, Sayin throws a dot to Smith, to where only his wideout can get it, and Smith makes a great catch, much like he always does.

Jeremiah Smith Is Not Human pic.twitter.com/xjAOidJHDQ

— wok (@dontsipwok) November 8, 2025

Good Throw: 35-yard Touchdown to Jeremiah Smith

In what was one of Sayin's best passes of the season, he finds Smith in stride and throws a perfect ball over multiple Purdue defenders for a touchdown.

SAYIN TO SMITH TUDDY @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/SzA0fsxlgC

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 8, 2025

"Yeah, it's very pretty. As I say, just looking at the ball coming down, you're about to catch it," Smith said of Sayin's accuracy, especially on deep passes. "You just got to see it for yourself to experience something like that. Every ball that he throws is on time and perfect."

Much like the announcer stated after the touchdown, the Sayin-to-Smith connection has been like PB&J. He isn't wrong.

The football hasn't touched the ground when Julian Sayin has targeted Jeremiah Smith over the last 2 games. During that span, Sayin targeted Smith 16 times leading to 16 catches, 260 yards and 3 TD.

— Chris Lauderback (@Chris11W) November 8, 2025

Worst Throw: Interception

In a game that featured one of his best throws of the season, it also had one of Sayin's worst throws of the year. He snapped a streak of 173 consecutive passes without an interception when he made a throw back across his body straight into the hands of Purdue defensive end CJ Nunnally IV.

Purdue with the pick on Julian Sayin @BoilerFootball pic.twitter.com/bcYGbRdzqp

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 8, 2025

"I think there are some things we want to clean up and things we've got to get better at. In the red zone, can't turn the ball over, so there are things to learn from," Sayin said. "They ended up dropping eight guys down there. I was being reckless with the football. That’s one I gotta own, and I can't be taking chances like that down in the red zone. We have a field goal at that point; I have to throw it away."

While Day knows that Sayin can't throw that ball and acknowledged that his quarterback will certainly learn from it, Day also joked about what would happen once Sayin comes to the sideline after a bad throw (and turnover) like that.

“I think he probably wants to go in the other direction or the other sideline when something like that happens,” Day said. “But he's got to learn from those, and he will.”

While Sayin hasn't necessarily had a "Heisman moment" because Ohio State has dominated its way through the first nine games of the season, the redshirt freshman has been the best quarterback in the country this season.

• First in completion percentage (80.9%)
• Second in yards per attempt (9.9)
• First in passer rating (192.6)
• Tied for fourth in passing touchdowns (24)
• First in QBR (91.1)

The difference between Sayin and the quarterback with the second-best completion percentage in the FBS (Miami's Carson Beck, 72.7%) is the same as the difference between Sayin and the 55th-best completion percentage in the country among qualified quarterbacks (Florida’s DJ Lagway, 64.5%).

Sayin's passing chart through nine games of the 2025 season: