Julian Sayin's individual trophy case grows one day before he hopes to add to Ohio State's team trophy room.
On Tuesday, the Maxwell Football Club named the Buckeyes' redshirt freshman quarterback the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year.
The winner of the 2025 @shaunalexander Freshman of the Award is @OhioStateFB 's @juliansayin2 ! #MaxwellFootball pic.twitter.com/lDhm9ryAVI
— Maxwell Football (@MaxwellFootball) December 30, 2025
Sayin won the award over four other true or redshirt freshman finalists, including one the Buckeyes will face in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals on Wednesday. Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney was a finalist along with Alabama cornerback Dijon Lee Jr., Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr and North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker.
Sayin led the nation's quarterbacks in completion percentage at 78.4%, the second-best being Miami's Carson Beck, nearly four percentage points behind him at 74.5%. Sayin also led the nation in passer rating at 182.1. He racked up 3,323 total passing yards and 31 touchdowns against just six interceptions.
It's the latest accolade for Sayin, who earned an invite to New York City as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy earlier in December. He earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a second-team All-Big Ten nod from both the conference's coaches and media, trailing only Heisman Trophy winner and Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
Sayin is the first Buckeye to win the award, though Caleb Downs won the award as a freshman at Alabama in 2023. Controversially, Jeremiah Smith didn’t win the award last year, with Texas defensive end Colin Simmons winning the award instead.
Sayin and Ohio State will face Toney, Beck and Miami in the CFP quarterfinals at the Cotton Bowl at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
