Julian Sayin was once leading the Heisman race. But his recent performances, especially against Miami in the CFP quarterfinal, have shown that the QB still has room to grow. The Buckeyes’ QB1 didn’t shy from taking accountability for the Hurricanes’ loss that ended Ohio State’s season.

“As the play developed, as it came out of your hand. Did you see the guy? You understand what I’m asking there? When did you realize?” a reporter asked Sayin about his first-half interception after the game.

“Oh yeah, after it came out of my hand. I saw him make the play. It was a great play by him, and so obviously I can’t have that in that situation,” Sayin replied calmly. The QB managed to complete just 62.9% of his passes and threw at a season-low accuracy. The mistake stood out because it contrasted sharply with the level of efficiency he carried into the Cotton Bowl: 3,323 passing yards, 31 touchdowns, and a nation-leading 78.4% completion rate across the regular season. But the bigger issue was the protection, as Sayin was sacked five times by Miami.

The most dreaded moment came early in the second quarter, when OSU was trailing 0-7. Sayin was looking sharp after a 59-yard completion to Jeremiah Smith, and Ohio State was in the red zone. However, a sack resulted in a 6-yard loss, and on 2nd-and-16 at Miami’s 22-yard line, Sayin threw a pick-six. One snap earlier, he had missed a wide-open option over the middle, a detail that made the turnover feel even more costly in hindsight.

“The play that Scott made there on the pick-six was a huge part of the game. I think Julian’s decision to throw was the right thing to do at the time,” Ryan Day said after the game.

It’s hard to pinpoint whether Sayin was at fault for the interception, considering it was a designed play to Brandon Inniss. Could Jeremiah Smith have done a better job of blocking Miami CB Keionte Scott, who returned the interception for a 72-yard touchdown?

“Julian Sayin will want those last two plays back,” Cameron Teague Robinson of The Athletic said. “The sack was his fault, holding on to the ball too long, and the screen was so obvious that Keionte Scott could’ve walked and still intercepted that ball,” Teague added. But the turnover wasn’t the only mistake the OSU QB1 had in the game.

Late in the fourth quarter, OSU was trailing 24-14 with under a minute left and no timeouts. Clearly, the team was playing for a desperate final drive. In a last-ditch attempt, Sayin tried to evade a sack by Miami’s Maquise Lightfoot and hurried his deep pass. The pass was intercepted by Jakobe Thomas, which ended the game.

Julian Sayin opens up on his weak pocket management against Miami

Although Sayin is still a top-notch QB by all means, the game showed that he still has a lot to learn to win that coveted Heisman and develop. His pocket management was shaky, and decision-making under duress led to -42 rushing yards. As a result, we saw the OSU QB1 forcing throws and misreading routes. Plus, the Carlsbad, California, native held the ball too long, leading to sacks.

Even in OSU’s opening drive, Miami opened the game with a sack on Sayin, and the pattern continued until the fourth quarter. “There were some opportunities today where I could have maybe taken off and scrambled for some yards,” Julian Sayin accepted. “Took some sacks that weren’t necessary and got us into tougher situations.”

Sayin’s woes weren’t even tolerated by OSU’s loyal fans, as we saw the fans exiting the Cotton Bowl game midway through. Innately, the standards at Ohio State are quite high, and the motto “natty or bust” reverberated from the OSU fans in the game. Is it a sign for Ryan Day to bring sweeping changes? Absolutely not! Sayin is still young and has 3 more years of college ball to play. Somewhere down the line, it won’t be far-fetched to assume Sayin will win the coveted Heisman.

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