In the hours preceding Ohio State’s eventual national championship victory, it was hard not to be transfixed watching a 6-foot-1 freshman quarterback throw the ball.
Spend a minute watching Julian Sayin throw the ball and you understand why he was ranked the No. 3 quarterback in the class of 2024, according to the 247Sports, behind only Florida’s DJ Lagway and Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola. The player Sayin reminded West Coast scout Greg Biggins of was JJ McCarthy, ironically enough.
The ball effortlessly jumped out of Sayin’s hand as he showed off pinpoint accuracy warming up inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Sayin surely knew it would take a calamity — or a huge blowout — for him to actually play against Notre Dame in the title game but he more than looked the part dropping perfect pass after perfect pass into his receivers’ hands.
If Ohio State is going to return to that setting next year, Sayin will be a big reason why. He doesn’t have the size of outgoing starting quarterback Will Howard (6-foot-4, 235-pounds) or incoming five-star quarterback Tavien St. Clair (6-foot-4, 225-pounds).
But the way Sayin throws the ball and the preternatural calm that envelops his play, it’s easy to imagine how explosive the Ohio State offense can still be with star receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate coming back to Columbus. He looked every bit like the heir apparent on the night Ohio State finally broke through and won it all.
“Jules is a great kid,” Ohio State quarterback Will Howard told CBS Sports. “From the moment he’s come in, he’s tried to be a sponge. He’s a quick learner and he processes really, really well for a freshman, better than a lot of guys I’ve seen.
“The dude spins a ball like I’ve never seen a ball get spun before. When the ball comes out of his hand, it’s pretty. It looks very pretty.”
This wasn’t where Julian Sayin expected to be.
After a thorough and thoughtful recruiting process, as extensively detailed in the book “The Price: What It Takes to Win in College Football’s Era of Chaos,” the California native chose Alabama over Georgia, LSU and Penn State. Sayin, a five-star, had his pick of college football bluebloods, with some like Penn State even promising him a starting spot (this was during a recruiting process that played Drew Allar, also a five-star prospect, Nevertheless, Sayin fell in love with the idea of playing for Nick Saban. He liked the businesslike approach Saban and offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien took during the recruiting process, and believed Tuscaloosa was the best place for him to develop for the NFL.
He graduated Carlsbad High School a semester early, enrolled at Alabama and got to practice with the team in its Rose Bowl preparation for its game against Michigan. His family uprooted their life in California and moved to Alabama, ready to provide a support system for their young phenom in Tuscaloosa.
And then on his first day of classes at Alabama, his world got rocked. Saban, the legendary coach of seven national championships, was retiring. Sayin was stunned.
He had wanted to play for Saban and the Alabama coach couldn’t wait to coach him. Saban’s wife, Terry, even told a friend the day of the Texas game that they wished they already had Sayin on the roster to play against the Longhorns, according to The Price. Alabama would go on to lose, 34-24, to Texas later that day, the worst home loss of Saban’s 17 years in Tuscaloosa.
In his exit meeting with Sayin, Saban told him he’d have a good chance to start the following season if he stayed at Alabama.
Instead, after the arrival of new Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer and his staff, Sayin decided to enter the transfer portal. The fit felt off for Sayin, who had a singular quick two-minute meeting with DeBoer.
He had immediate interest from multiple programs, including USC, but decided on Ohio State because of his connection to Ryan Day and new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, who ran point on his recruitment at Alabama. He was joined in Columbus by a couple familiar faces in former Alabama center Seth McLaughlin and former Alabama defensive back Caleb Downs.
O’Brien would leave a month later to become Boston College’s head coach, though Sayin already had a relationship with his replacement, Chip Kelly, who had recruited him while at UCLA.
It was a dizzying amount of change for the college freshman, who left high school early, saw his beloved coach stun the college football world with his retirement and then a year later was preparing to play in a national championship deep in SEC country for a Big Ten school.
“Definitely a little crazy but couldn’t have ended up at a better spot,” Sayin told CBS Sports. “Coach Day, Coach Kelly do a really good job of coaching quarterbacks so I’m really appreciative of them.”
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Kelly, whose decision to leave UCLA for Ohio State worked out magnificently, was asked before Monday’s title game about what Sayin’s ceiling could be. The Ohio State offensive coordinator was quick to effusively praise the true freshman.
“It’s as high as he wants it to be,” Kelly said. “I think he’s a tremendously talented player. He’s got a great work ethic. We’re excited about him.”
Sayin arrived at Ohio State ready to compete but knew the chances of starting his first year would be difficult. The Buckeyes had already brought in Howard from Kansas State, had backup quarterback Devin Brown raring to go and signed four-star quarterback Air Noland in the same class as Sayin.
A year later, all three are gone. Howard is off to the NFL after winning it all, Brown transferred to Cal and Noland is off to South Carolina. This time around he’ll have to compete against redshirt sophomore Lincoln Kienholz and true freshman Tavien St. Clair, a top-5 recruit in the 2025 recruiting class.
Don’t expect any public bravado from Sayin ahead of Day announcing a starter. Sayin is soft-spoken but has a laidback, Chalamain confidence to him. And when you watch him throw the ball, you know why he doesn’t have to say much about himself.
Still, he says he is focused on becoming a better leader and quarterback ahead of Ohio State’s 2025 season, which with Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns coming to down. The redshirt freshman is very cognizant of the opportunity ahead of him and all that would come with being the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback.
“It’s obviously a big job,” Sayin said, “and I’m excited to compete in the offseason and get better every day to be the best guy I can.”
Howard expects a stiff competition between Sayin, St. Clair and Kienholz and raves about the quality of that QB room. He believes Day and Kelly know what they have in Sayin, though.
“They have a plan for him to put on some weight and toughen him up a little bit and have him ready to step in and be the guy next year,” he said.
After a “Last Dance” style approach that kept multiple key contributors like Jack Sawyer and Emeka Egbuka back in Columbus for a final run at a title, Ohio State has plenty to replace for next season.
Yet having Smith, already the best receiver in the country as a true freshman, is the ultimate cheat code. The incoming Ohio State transfer portal class has some nice gets. Howard raved about incoming Purdue tight end Max Klare (“Going to be an absolute beast”) and West Virginia running back CJ Donaldson (“Tore us up when I was at Kansas State”). Tate could be the best No. 2 receiver in the country — just like Egbuka — while junior receiver Brandon Inniss looks ready to take a leap, too, and told 247Sports he felt confident in his upcoming role.
“There’s playmakers everywhere,” Howard said.
If Sayin is the one leading that group, he’ll be Ohio State’s youngest starting quarterback since Day opted for CJ Stroud back in 2021. The last quarterback Nick Saban ever signed will be ready for the moment.
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