Few in college football can match the talent of Julian Sayin or the coaching prowess of Ryan Day.
The Walter Camp Football Foundation named Sayin as a finalist for its Player of the Year award and Day as a finalist for its Coach of the Year award on Thursday.
Sayin is one of five finalists for Player of the Year, along with Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love and Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez.
The @WalterCampFF Player of Year is the nation's fourth oldest college football award.
— Walter Camp Football (@WalterCampFF) December 3, 2025
Here are the 2025 finalists https://t.co/eYUdaGOjQc
The winner will be announced on Wed., Dec. 10 on @espn College Football Live. pic.twitter.com/LWyQbaYkUc
Sayin leads college football with a 78.9% completion rate and 184.9 passer rating. In 12 starts, the four-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week has completed 258 of 327 passes for 3,065 yards, 30 touchdowns and five interceptions. He is coming off a performance in which he completed 19 of 26 throws (73.1%) for 233 yards, three touchdowns and one interception while leading Ohio State to its first win over Michigan since 2019.
Day is one of three finalists for Coach of the Year, along with Indiana's Curt Cignetti and Vanderbilt's Clark Lea.
Here are the 3 finalists for the 2025 @WalterCampFF FBS Coach of Year award, as voted by the head coaches and sports communicators.
— Walter Camp Football (@WalterCampFF) December 4, 2025
Curt Cignetti @IndianaFootball
Ryan Day @OhioStateFB
Clark Lea @VandyFootball https://t.co/joEoATZtxH pic.twitter.com/SAat6EVGuE
Despite ranking No. 1 in all-time winning percentage with a record of 82-10 (.891), a national championship, two national championship game appearances and four (soon to be five) CFP appearances, Day has never won a National Coach of the Year award. His lone coaching accolade came in 2019, when he won Big Ten Coach of the Year in his first year as leader of the Buckeyes.
