You’ve got to strike when the iron is hot, right? The minute someone falters in keeping their eyes on the prize, they lose the game. A similar situation seems to be unfolding at Ohio State, particularly in their recent scrimmage over the weekend. Ryan Day is shaking things up a bit, letting Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz battle it out. Let’s just say we could see a major plot twist coming up in that QB race leading up to D-Day. After OSU’s first spring scrimmage, it doesn’t look like a cakewalk for Sayin.

Julian Sayin is Ryan Day’s much-hyped, star-in-the-making. Having snagged him early in the 2024 recruiting class, Day seemed to have landed a jackpot. During his recruitment, Sayin was a 5-star QB, ranked No. 2 in the position and a national ranking of 8 (On3 Industry).

In 2023, as a senior at Carlsbad High, Sayin threw 2,369 yards, scored 23 TDs, and had a pass completion percentage of 75.5%. Sitting behind Will Howard, everybody thought Sayin would be the one to succeed him and bring his high school brilliance to college football as well.

Now, as he faces off against Lincoln Kienholz for the position, Sayin has a big reason to worry. Moreover, Kienholz has now risen unsuspectingly over the star QB hopeful, adding some heat to the race. Kienholz had a better day than Sayin.

Zach Smith shared how the QB contender could make use of the situation, in an April 7 video. “Lincoln at least solidified that this is going to be a race. And honestly, after the scrimmage, he played better than Julian.”

Amid all the hype surrounding Sayin, the scrimmage could serve as motivation for Kienholz to stay the course. “There’s performance on the field to give him hope that he could be the guy.” One person’s loss is another person’s gain. Now that’s an opportunity that Kienholz shouldn’t shy away from.

Smith said that it is inconspicuous moments like this that matter. “Who knows what small victories like that, confidence-building days like that can do to a player? I’ve seen it happen to countless players, where all of a sudden he stacks another one, stacks another one; he starts improving at a more rapid clip because he’s got a little confidence about him.”

Kienholz didn’t have much to bank on in his previous season at OSU. He was not good in the Missouri game, and has seen very little action otherwise. This season, however, Smith thinks change is coming. “This is going to be a much different version of Lincoln Kienholtz than we saw against Missouri,” he said. He’s got the reps in; he’s had quite some time to prepare and learn. In this sudden twist of events, it looks like the quarterback race in Ohio State is far from over.

Julian Sayin’s scrimmage show was “concerning”

In the scrimmage, Kienholz was making some good throws. He made a particularly impressive throw that Carnell Tate caught, leading to a 45-yard touchdown. It was a live scrimmage, so the defense had the green light to hit. Sayin had accuracy issues under pressure, throwing the only interception in the game. Kris Drew remarked animatedly, “I saw Julian Sayin get swung and decked to the ground.” Also, as punishment, Sayin was made to run a lap of the field.

It’s safe to say this is not what people expected of Sayin, who seemed the surefire pick to be QB1. Greg McElroy said that the way he played in the scrimmage was “concerning” and that he looked weaker than others. For someone who can throw more than 2000 yards in consecutive years, Sayin’s performance in the weekend does not do justice to those numbers.

It’s still pretty early to undermine Sayin’s potential, but this is a clear opportunity. Kienholz shone where Sayin failed. That is something the former will be keeping up his sleeve for the rest of the spring practice. Ryan Day now has some serious thinking to do, because the QB race isn’t so one-sided anymore.