The defending national champions have their quarterback.
A redshirt freshman from Southern California, Sayin beat out redshirt sophomore Lincoln Kienholz for the starting job. The position battle began in spring practice and continued throughout fall camp before the decision was made less than two weeks before the season starts.
‘It was a close competition,’ coach Ryan Day announced Aug. 18. ‘Julian seperated himself over the last week with consistent play.’
Sayin was a highly-touted recruit out of Carlsbad High School in the 2024 recruiting class as the third-ranked quarterback and 20th ranked recruit overall by 247sports. He originally committed to Alabama and was with the Crimson Tide for a brief period before the retirement of Nick Saban changed his plans, and he transferred to Ohio State.
The signal-caller was the third-string quarterback for the Buckeyes last season as he played 27 offensive snaps in four games. He completed 5-of-12 passes for 84 yards and one touchdown as part of the national championship team.
Last season’s starter Will Howard graduated and backup Devin Brown transferred to California, paving the way for Sayin to take over the starting duties.
Sayin will be the first Buckeyes quarterback since 2021 to take the job without any previous starting experience in college. His first start will come against at home against the Longhorns in Week 1 in the first No. 1 vs No. 2 season opening matchup season in the history of the US LBM Coaches Poll.