AUSTIN, Texas — When the Texas Longhorns defense faces Ohio State Buckeyes sophomore quarterback Julian Sayin on Saturday at Ohio Stadium in the season opener, defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski will surely try to take advantage of Sayin in his first collegiate start by disguising defenses and sending some exotic pressures to confuse the young quarterback and create negative plays.
But even though Sayin is generally regarded as a pocket passer, head coach Steve Sarkisian is familiar enough with
Sayin to challenge that narrative after recruiting the No. 1 quarterback in the 2024 class out of Carlsbad (Calif.).
“He’s a better athlete than you think. He can run, so we definitely need to be alert to that and ready for that,” Sarkisian said on Monday.
It’s an area of Sayin’s game where he improved significantly from his junior to his senior season of high school in rushing for 186 yards and four touchdowns in 2023.
“His athleticism has always been an underrated part of his game and this year, we saw him take off and run more and showed the ability to easily elude pass rushers and extend plays,” 247Sports National Recruiting Analyst Greg Biggins wrote in his evaluation of Sayin.
After playing at 195 pounds at Carlsbad, Sayin is now listed at 208 pounds by Ohio State, so the gains in mass indicate improved strength from the redshirt freshman in addition to the likelihood that his athleticism is better, too.
Sayin remains unlikely to reprise Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel’s unexpected and game-changing performance in the 2023 Red River Rivalry by rushing for 113 yards and a touchdown, but he’s also not going to be a statue on Saturday — the Texas defensive front will have to remain disciplined with their pass-rush lanes to keep Sayin from creating off-schedule plays in the passing game with his ability to navigate and escape the pocket to find his talented wide receiver corps.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and offensive coordinator Brian Hartline also have the ability to roll out Sayin to change his launch point and threaten the Texas defense with his legs.
In the pocket, Sayin can make all the throws, delivering balls off platform when necessary, ripping throws into small windows over the middle, flashing his arm strength on out routes to the sideline, layering throws over second-level defenders, and delivering deep balls with pinpoint accuracy.
The tape doesn’t lie, and it reflects Sayin’s ranking as a consensus five-star prospect and the No. 6 player in the 2024 class, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, which makes him a formidable opponent for the Longhorns defense despite his youth and inexperience.
