Three Stars of the Game: Jeremiah Smith, Julian Sayin and Jayden Fielding Earn Top Honors For Their Performances Against Purdue

This week, the Eleven Warriors staff selected Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, quarterback Julian Sayin and kicker Jayden Fielding as the Buckeyes' top performers in the team's 34-10 win over Purdue.

First Star: Jeremiah Smith

With Carnell Tate on the sidelines, Smith proved — once again — that he is the best player in college football, hauling in a career-high 10 receptions for 137 yards and one touchdown.

Of Smith’s 10 receptions, three could have been featured on SportsCenter’s Top 10: an acrobatic catch despite defensive pass interference, a catch over two defenders at the goal line and an extending, leaning catch on the sidelines.

Through nine games this season, Smith has looked like he deserves an invitation to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. He leads the Buckeyes with 55 catches for 725 yards and 10 total touchdowns. As a freshman in 2024, Smith had 76 catches for 1,315 yards and 16 total touchdowns in 16 games.

While Smith has an uphill battle to win the Heisman over Sayin, Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Alabama’s Ty Simpson, he has Sayin’s vote to hoist the stiff-arm trophy.

“The guy is special,” Sayin said. “He’s a great player.”

Second Star: Julian Sayin

Sayin didn’t perform at the level that earned him Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors following Ohio State’s wins over Grambling State, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Penn State. Still, he had his fifth 300+-yard passing game of the season, completing 27 of 33 passes for 303 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.

Like Smith, Sayin looks like he's earned an invitation to the Lincoln Center’s Appel Room — and he has a good chance to win the Heisman. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Sayin is the odds-on favorite to be named college football’s best player at +160. Mendoza has the second-best odds at +170, followed by Simpson (+500), Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed (+700) and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia (+2000).

The Julian Sayin-Jeremiah Smith connection >>>pic.twitter.com/7bfpAoFnyo

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 8, 2025

“That’s Julian Sayin’s trophy right there,” Smith said. “The Heisman goes to Julian Sayin.”

This season, Sayin leads college football with an 80.9% completion rate while throwing for 2,491 yards with 24 touchdowns and four interceptions. He’ll have a chance to bolster those numbers over the next three weeks against three defenses that rank outside the top 25 in pass defense: UCLA (No. 27), Rutgers (No. 82) and Michigan (No. 48).

Third Star: Jayden Fielding

When you set a new career-long field goal, you get a star.

That’s what Fielding did on Saturday when he converted a 49–yard kick inside a cold, windy Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturday. He also made a 45-yard kick later in the game, which was his second-longest field goal of the season.

In 2025, Fielding has made 11 of 13 field goal attempts (84.6%). He is 4-for-4 between 20 and 29 yards, 5-for-6 between 30 and 39 yards, 2-for-2 between 40 and 49 yards and 0-for-1 from 50 or more yards.

Fielding has made 40 of 50 field goal attempts and 156 of 157 extra point attempts in 51 appearances for the Buckeyes.

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.