Ohio State‘s quarterback battle has been settled! Julian Sayin will be under center for the No. 3 Buckeyes when they host No. 1 Texas in Week 1 (Saturday, Aug. 29 at noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), the program announced on Monday. The sophomore beat redshirt sophomore Lincoln Kienholz for the starting job.
Sayin was one of the top quarterback prospects in the 2024 recruiting class, initially committing to Alabama before transferring to Ohio State following Nick Saban’s retirement. He was a part of the Buckeyes’ quarterback competition last year as well, which fifth-year senior Will Howard won before leading Ohio State to a national championship.
Entering fall camp, most observers and analysts viewed Sayin as the favorite to win the starting job. Still, coach Ryan Day continued to preach that it was an open competition, praising the work that Sayin and Kienholz were putting in.
“It was a close competition,” Day told reporters on Monday. “I think with both guys, we feel confident can win a game for us. I think Julian separated himself over the last week with his consistent play. I feel like our guys are confident in both quarterbacks. I think we’ll need both quarterbacks. They both do a lot of great things.”
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Sayin briefly appeared in a handful of games last season. He completed 5 of 12 passes for 84 yards and a touchdown to go with 24 rushing yards.
Offensive coordinator Brian Hartline also pointed out Sayin’s consistency, along with limited turnovers and emergence as a leader, in his body of work.
“The command and earning the respect of your peers. Ultimately, the locker room always knows,” Hartline said.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian tried to recruit Sayin and said after Monday’s announcement that he had a ton of respect for him.
“We recruited him hard here. He was a very gifted passer, really good player. Came to camp with us, I think, two years in a row. So we got a lot of familiarity with him,’ Sarkisian said. ‘Very good player, elite passer, very good arm talent, very quick release, really accurate guy. Obviously, he’s got great weapons around him, so he’s the type of guy that can utilize those weapons in a good system. So, it poses a heck of a challenge.”
Sayin won’t be the most-hyped quarterback in the opener. That goes to Texas’ Arch Manning, who is considered an early Heisman Trophy contender.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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