ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Is Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin ready to solve a problem he didn’t create?
The first-year starter is about to make his first mark on a rivalry game that the Buckeyes have been on the wrong side of for four years. He had nothing to do with how that happened, and to throw all of the pressure in flipping the rivalry on him is probably unfair.
Nobody in the program is asking him to be its Michigan savior. They’re only asking him to keep doing what he’s been doing. That by itself might already be enough pressure, given what its looked like.
“Lead the team to a victory,” head coach Ryan Day said. “That’s it at the end of the day.
“What does that look like? It depends on how the game plays out. But he’s gotta do his job, make good decisions, and ultimately be the guy that leads the team to victory. That’s the No. 1 goal. The rest of it is gravy.”
Sayin’s completing a nation’s best 79.4% of his passes this season, and if he keeps at this pace, he’ll set a new FBS record, surpassing Bo Nix’s 77.4% at Oregon in 2023.
He’s turned that accuracy into 2,832 yards and 27 touchdowns. He has effortlessly led OSU’s offense up and down the field every week without much strife, making all of it look impressively easy. Not once has he been rattled by the moment, and he has been allowed to develop on Ohio State’s terms, never being asked to do more than he was ready to do.
That luxury is why the Buckeyes are 11-0 and have held the nation’s top ranking since knocking off preseason No. 1 Texas to open the season.
It’s also important to note that’s the last time he was on a stage where true pressure existed.
Day chose the conservative route during the 14-7 win. Sayin was asked to do very little outside of a 40-touchdown pass to Carnell Tate that ultimately decided the game. His role was more of a game manager than a playmaker because it was the right thing to do with someone making his first start and only 27 career snaps to his name.
That is not the same description as walking into Michigan Stadium.
Everything Day and this offensive coaching staff did with Sayin in the 10 games since that Texas win has been about getting to this moment. It was about ensuring that QB1 was ready to perform on a stage that hasn’t been all that kind to this position over the past four years, even if the losses aren’t completely on them.
“It’s not just the quarterback, it’s everybody involved,” Day said. “That’s what we all need to understand. Sometimes we look back, and we want to point the finger at one thing or another, but it’s everybody.
“That’s why when we play in matchup games like this, it can come down to one play, so everybody in the entire building has got to be on point this week. That’s special teams. That’s on offense, defense and everybody involved. Certainly, the quarterback gets a lot of the attention, but we need everybody.”
C.J. Stroud wasn’t the problem in 2021 during his first trip to Ann Arbor as a Southern California quarterback playing in weather he didn’t have any experience playing in. He had 394 yards and two touchdowns on 34 of 49 passing, but he also spent the afternoon being harassed by a Wolverine defensive line, resulting in a 42-27 loss.
A year later, he put up 349 yards and two touchdowns on 31 of 48 passing. But that didn’t prevent a 45-23 loss where he ended the afternoon throwing desperation passes that eventually earned him two interceptions.
That started a trend for OSU quarterbacks.
Kyle McCord (18 of 30 for 271 yards and two touchdowns) failed to meet the moment in 2023, throwing a crucial pick early that set up what was eventually the game-deciding touchdown. Then he threw another that sealed his fate as a victim of The Game in a 30-24 loss.
Will Howard (19 of 33 for 175 yards and a touchdown) threw two bad interceptions last season that wasted prime opportunities to win a game the Buckeyes were favored by 21 points in. He might have eventually left Columbus as a champion, but in that moment, he was the latest example of quarterbacks failing to meet the moment in a 13-10 loss.
Sayin doesn’t have much in common with McCord or Howard. Sure, those two had plenty of strengths, but they also had inherent flaws that had shown up all season that suggested those types of mistakes were always destined to happen. He hasn’t had that problem, throwing just four interceptions all season, and only one has come against a Power 4 opponent.
He doesn’t really have much in common with Stroud, outside of both being from Southern California, meaning the weather becomes a little more of a talking point. But there is something poetic about a connection between two guys who actually don’t have anything to do with each other.
Stroud’s time as a Buckeye is the genesis of the only flaw of the Ryan Day era. Sayin’s time might be that flaw’s salvation.
Here Day is again, five years later, with a highly-rated quarterback from California making his way to Ann Arbor with a Big Ten title berth and a Heisman Trophy potentially on the line.
“He’s gotta do as good a job as anybody this week,” Day said. “He’s gotta get out in front of it. He’s gotta communicate, handle the environment and what comes with it. He’s shown composure this year, but now he’s gotta be at his best.”
Sayin doesn’t have to do anything special on Saturday. He just has to be himself, as his very existence already fits that definition, because he’d made achieving that feat look all too easy.
Day wasn’t ready to completely give his new quarterback the keys to the sports car the last time he went into a game where all eyes were on him, and it was the right thing to do. Now, the right thing to do is trust all the work that went into getting him to this point.
Sayin’s path to greatness isn’t about a singular moment, no matter how much we’ve all become obsessed with that idea. It’s a 60-minute effort where he’s finally let loose, putting it all together to be everything the Buckeyes need in The Game, which means everything to the program.
He’s got a chance to right a wrong this weekend, and set himself up to get everything this wrong took from the last guy who matched his description.
Ready or not, his stage has finally arrived.
“Just win,” Day said. “That’s it. Just lead the team to victory. Whatever that looks like and however that is, that’s the No. 1 goal.”
