With just a day to go before the College Football Playoff rankings are revealed, the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry is heating up in more ways than one. Both programs have players featured on PFF’s Week 10 College Football Team of the Week, adding extra intrigue ahead of the stretch run.

PFF released their week 10 team of the week Player Awards, and Michigan’s Mason Curtis made headlines after leading the secondary with six tackles and one quarterback hit against the Boilermakers. Michigan’s defense didn’t allow any big plays and held them to just 138 passing yards and 6.9 yards per completion. Whereas Julian Sayin threw more touchdowns than incompletions against Penn State. On the other side of the rivalry, OSU quarterback Julian Sayin continues to dazzle, throwing four touchdowns with only three incompletions in a commanding win over Penn State. His 20-of-23, 316-yard outing earned a 91.7 PFF passing grade, the highest of any quarterback this week, reaffirming why he’s become one of college football’s most efficient passers.

Well, Mason’s excellence has been backing Michigan since last season. As this 6’5” safety played in nine games, he recorded 8 tackles, one interception, and one tackle for loss. But this journey to excellence wasn’t that straightforward, as Mason entered Michigan as a linebacker, and then they tried him as both an LB and an edge rusher before handing him the safety position.

In Michigan’s gritty 21-16 win over the Boilermakers, Curtis led the secondary with six tackles and one quarterback hit, helping limit Purdue to just 138 passing yards and 6.9 yards per completion. Despite a few costly penalties elsewhere in coverage, Curtis’s discipline and play recognition stood out as key stabilizers for a defense that refused to give up explosive plays.

Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale has often praised Curtis’s growth, comparing his instincts to Michigan legend Ty Law, saying, “Well, the first thing that jumped out about Mason is, like, we came here, and he played three different positions before we put him at safety,” said Martindale. “That’s the type of athlete that he is. He is one of those guys that you’ve seen, probably a teammate that you can think of.” And he was the only one who compared his strength to Law. “The ball always finds him. Ty Law was that way. He’s one of those guys that just the ball always finds him because he understands what his job is; he knows how to do it.”

That’s been evident this season, from breaking up passes against New Mexico to racking up tackles versus Wisconsin and Oklahoma, Curtis continues to elevate his game each week. No wonder PFF recognized him among the best in college football for Week 10.

Now, while Curtis anchors the Wolverines’ defense, Ohio State’s Julian Sayin is drawing national attention for his standout performances enough to make the GOAT Nick Saban reflect on the decision that once kept the quarterback off the field.

Nick Saban regrets the Julian Sayin decision

Everyone knows Nick Saban is the one who saw potential in Julian Sayin when he got him in 2023, but he didn’t see any game action, as he was on the scout team for the entire year. And no one regrets that decision more than Saban, looking at his success at Ohio State.

Talking about his move on College GameDay before their game against Penn State, he took it all on himself and said, “I think one point I’d like to make about Julian Sayin is he was at Alabama. And the coach at Alabama played him on the scout team for a whole year. What a dumb**.” Well, the regret makes sense, but Nick Saban was the only reason Sayin stayed on the team. After Saban’s exit in 2024, even Sayin left for Ohio State, and what a phenomenal gift he’s proven to be for the Buckeyes’ offense.

Well, the praise makes sense, as Julian Sayin has recorded 2,188 yards, completing 181 of 230 passes with 23 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions so far in the season. And his 80.7% completion rate shows the kind of talent this guy possesses.

Since then, Nick Saban has never stopped praising Sayin, as last month he was talking about his accuracy. “And they’ve talked about Julian Sayin; nobody in the country is completing 80% of his passes but him,” he said. It’s a massive turnaround for a guy who just managed to throw for 12 times last season. Now, it will be interesting to see if Sayin can break Ryan Day’s curse against Michigan this season or not!