COLUMBUS, Ohio — Julian Sayin has done everything that has been asked of him in his first season as Ohio State’s starting quarterback.
Yet a signature drive or performance is still missing from his resumé,
That opportunity comes on the road Saturday, when the 6-foot-1, 208-pound redshirt freshman from Carlsbad, California, leads the top-ranked Buckeyes (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) into the Big House to face No. 15 Michigan (9-2, 7-1) in Ann Arbor. It’s a matchup of the past two national champions — Ohio State last season, Michigan the year before — but it’s the Buckeyes who are on a quest to end a four-game losing streak to “The Team Up North” in the annual border rivalry showdown.
Sayin enters “The Game” leading the Football Bowl Subdivision with a 79.4% completion rate and a 185.38 quarterback rating, having thrown for 2,832 yards, 27 touchdowns, and only four interceptions.
Despite the quarterback’s impressive season, seventh-year head coach Ryan Day maintains the same expectations he had on Aug. 30, when Sayin started the season opener at home against Texas, which was ranked No. 1 at the time with the Buckeyes third.