Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (Birm/Lettermen Row)
COLUMBUS — Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin has been a superstar under center all year for the Buckeyes. For that, he’s heading to New York City as a Heisman Trophy finalist.
The winner will be announced at a ceremony on Saturday night. Sayin is one of four finalists for the Stiff Arm Trophy, the most famous award in college sports. The others are Indiana quarterback Fernanda Mendoza, Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love and Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia.
He’s the fourth quarterback coached by Ryan Day to become a finalist, joining Dwayne Haskins i…
Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (Birm/Lettermen Row)
COLUMBUS — Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin has been a superstar under center all year for the Buckeyes. For that, he’s heading to New York City as a Heisman Trophy finalist.
The winner will be announced at a ceremony on Saturday night. Sayin is one of four finalists for the Stiff Arm Trophy, the most famous award in college sports. The others are Indiana quarterback Fernanda Mendoza, Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love and Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia.
He’s the fourth quarterback coached by Ryan Day to become a finalist, joining Dwayne Haskins in 2018, Justin Fields in 2019 and CJ Stroud in both 2021 and 2022. No Buckeyes player has won it since 2006 when Troy Smith took the award home, but six Ohio State players have won it; Archie Griffin’s two gives Ohio State seven as a program.
Sayin is the latest to head to New York for the Heisman ceremony, fresh off leading the Buckeyes to a 12-1 record, including wins over Texas and rival Michigan to book-end the regular season. Of course, he and the Buckeyes lost the Big Ten title game on Saturday night to Indiana. Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza helped his team win that game, so he’s the favorite to win the award heading into Saturday night.
Sayin, to his credit, finished the season with 3,329 passing yards and 31 touchdowns compared to just six interceptions. He leads the country in completion percentage, completing 78.4 percent of his passes for the season, finding elite receivers Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith and helping the Buckeyes offense grow into one of the best in the country.
His best game came in the road win at Wisconsin on Oct. 18, when Sayin completed more than 85 percent of his passes for 393 yards and four touchdowns in a blowout win.
The first-year starter and redshirt freshman from Carlsbad, California, already won the Thompson-Randle El Freshman of the Year honor for his first season as a starting quarterback for the Buckeyes. He’s also a second-team All-Big Ten selection; Mendoza was the first-team choice for both the coaches and media.
Now Julian Sayin is heading to New York City as a Heisman Trophy finalist in his first season as a starter for Ohio State.