Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has been called the best player in college football over and over again, and there’s no doubt he is. But we also know the Heisman committee favors the guys throwing the ball, and at this point in the season, arguably no one is doing that better than Julian Sayin.
Leading the No. 1 team in the country to a 7-0 start in his first year as starter, Sayin has made a strong case for himself week after week, culminating in an outing filled with personal bests against
Wisconsin this past week.
In Madison, Sayin threw for 393 yards and four touchdowns, going 36-for-42 on the day. He hasn’t thrown an interception since the Week 3 game against Ohio, and his completion rate on the season is 80.0 percent.
If you’ve been following the Heisman odds, Sayin’s seemed to skyrocket after this past weekend of football, with most sources placing him in the third spot behind Alabama’s Ty Simpson and Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza. His odds at Draftkings Sportsbook are +400, up from +1400 the week prior, with Mendoza and Simpson sitting at +340 and +350, respectively.
Both Mendoza and Simpson are worthy of being in the conversation without a doubt. At this point in the season, Simpson has helped right the Crimson Tide’s ship, and a huge victory over Tennessee this past weekend helps his case.
Mendoza, on his side, is doing an excellent job making sure the world knows Indiana is the real deal, capable of playing elite football. A big road win over then-No. 3 Oregon, 30-20, and a 63-10 outing over then-No.9 Illinois serve as giant exclamation points on the Hoosiers’ resume.
But Sayin himself gets better and better each week, with the Buckeyes’ closest game this season being their 14-7 win over then-No. 1 Texas in Week 1, Sayin’s first collegiate start. Since then, he has thrown for four touchdowns in two games and three touchdowns in two more, with a season-long 87-yarder.
To be honest, it’s frankly strange that Sayin made such a huge jump in the odds after this weekend, when he arguably should have been up there all along.
Simpson has thrown for the most yards of the three on the season, but it’s a narrow margin of difference: 1,931 yards compared to Sayin’s 1,872 and Mendoza’s 1,755. Simpson also has the fewest touchdowns and the lowest completion rate of the three.
All that’s to say, in terms of numbers, the trio of quarterbacks is neck-and-neck at the moment, with six weeks left in the regular season.
In addition to substance as far as numbers, Sayin also gets points for style. Against the Badgers, his gorgeous touchdown passes to Carnell Tate on the opening drive and to Brandon Inniss in the 3rd quarter didn’t just add points to the board. They added a “wow” factor to Sayin’s resume.
The play to Inniss in particular was our play of the game this past weekend, born out of Sayin’s note-perfect throw while under a bit of pressure. For its part, though, the Tate touchdown wasn’t any less perfect, thrown directly on target to allow Tate to make a stellar grab over the defenders’ heads, putting the Buckeyes on the board in a game.
Sayin’s confidence has grown noticeably over the last seven weeks of football. Perhaps what is most admirable about Sayin, though, isn’t what he does when he’s on—it’s what he does when he isn’t.
His ability to hit the reset button after a mistake, never allowing his composure and poise to waver, is arguably his most elite quality, even more impressive considering it’s his first year as starter. This is exactly what you hope for in a team leader, someone who can not only say, “Let’s go again” but who can also execute on that without losing their cool-headedness.
He has the maturity of a player with far more starting experience, making it easy to forget he’s new to the role.
With a little help from the best player in college football (Smith), Tate (who is making himself a household name in his own right), and the Buckeye offensive line, Sayin is on a trajectory that certainly warrants inclusion in the Heisman conversation at this point in the season.
If he continues on this path, don’t be surprised if you see him get that invite to New York in two months’ time.
