A year ago, Julian Sayin was a redshirt freshman battling for a starting job with Lincoln Kienholz, a job that Ryan Day hadn’t handed to anyone. By October 2026, the California recruit who arrived in Columbus has now earned a place alongside Arch Manning, CJ Marr, and Gunner Stockton. Sayin has been named one of the 15 quarterbacks for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, the nation’s top upperclassman quarterback honor.

Ohio State’s football account made the announcement official on Instagram: “Julian Sayin ➡️ Golden Arm 15 💪.” The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation revealed the cut on Thursday, October 8.

The field started at 27 names on the August 19 preseason watch list and has now been shortlisted to 15. The top 15 names include Rocco Becht (Penn State), CJ Carr (Notre Dame), Devon Dampier (Utah), Noah Fifita (Arizona), Kevin Jennings (SMU), Avery Johnson (Kansas State), Sam Leavitt (LSU), Jayden Maiava (USC), Arch Manning (Texas), Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State), Dante Moore (Oregon), Julian Sayin (Ohio State), Gunner Stockton (Georgia), Conner Weigman (Houston) and Demond Williams Jr. (Washington).

Some big names like Oklahoma’s John Mateer, Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers missed out on the top-15 cutdown. The Foundation also tightened the eligibility this year: three years of college experience, no more than five years enrolled, and no more than two programs.

Sayin was on the preseason list because of his breakout 2025 performance, where he completed 77% of his passes, the best single-season mark in Ohio State history, a Big Ten record, and the third-highest in FBS history behind Bo Nix and Mac Jones. He threw for 3,610 yards and 32 touchdowns against only eight interceptions, led the nation in completion percentage, and finished second nationally in passer rating at 177.5.

Sayin won his first 12 starts, took home Shaun Alexander National Freshman of the Year and Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, and went to New York as a Heisman finalist. This season, the numbers have held up. Through five games, Sayin has completed 103 of 143 passes (72.5%) for 1,530 yards and 13 touchdowns with one interception.

Julian Sayin is fourth nationally in passing yards and first in QBR at 92.1. His 324-yard, three-touchdown performance against Iowa was the ninth time in his career he has registered 300+ yards, tying the 21-year-old for second with Dwayne Haskins in Ohio State history behind C.J. Stroud’s 15.

Sayin also ran for 28 yards on five carries at Iowa, the second straight week he has hurt defenses as both a passer and a runner. Now, Sayin is the Buckeyes’ all-time leader in completion percentage at 75.0(409 of 545), ahead of Will Howard (73.0) and Dwayne Haskins (70.0). His 46 career touchdown passes rank 10th in school history, and he leads all active quarterbacks in passer rating since 2025 at 181.3.

“One bad play can ruin your whole afternoon,” Day said after Sayin threw into triple coverage during the Iowa game, according to Brian Schaible on Sports Illustrated. “We need him to be great, you know, can’t have a bad play, can’t have a bad day.”

Last year’s Golden Arm winner was Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, who threw for 3,539 yards and 29 touchdowns. Ohio State has never had a Golden Arm winner, which makes this a first step toward something the program’s culture has been building on.

Ryan Day sounds alarm on Sayin’s risky throws to Jeremiah Smith

Though Sayin’s numbers are elite, the one thing that Ryan Day wants him to fix is to stop throwing the ball to wide receiver Jeremiah Smith when he is covered.

“If he’s [Smith] single-covered, he’s open. If he’s double-covered, he’s sort of open. If he’s triple-covered, he’s covered … Somebody’s gotta be open somewhere else,” Day said.

Day also wants Sayin to keep playing clean, use his legs when needed and spread the ball. During the game against Iowa, Sayin made a 54-yard throw into triple coverage that Smith somehow caught, and afterward the quarterback was the first to admit that it wasn’t the right read.

“It was a great catch, and you know, we probably shouldn’t have gone there,” Sayin said. Day was quite blunt when asked about it: “Eventually that’s gonna get us beat, so we have to be smart about that.”

In the Big Ten title game defeat to Indiana and the playoff loss to Miami last December, Sayin threw three interceptions and only two touchdown passes after throwing five picks all season. For Day, a quarterback who forced the ball to just one guy in the playoffs is the starter who will always get bracketed by a playoff defense.

If Sayin can balance trusting Smith and finding other options to target as well, the Golden Arm, the Heisman conversation, and Ohio State’s national title hopes can get a lot easier. Next up is Maryland at home on Saturday, followed by a brutal stretch: Indiana, USC, and Oregon, all ranked in the top 20.