For the first time since the 2022 season, Ohio State has its starting quarterback returning for a second season with the team.
Junior quarterback Julian Sayin also comes back with most of the offense that he had on the field last year with him. Four starting offensive linemen are back, along with Jeremiah Smith, Brandon Inniss and Bo Jackson on that side of the ball.
The biggest change the offense is going through this offseason is the Buckeyes bringing in offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, who has a lot of NFL experience he brings to the table.
That experience has been easy to see for Sayin going into his second year at Ohio State.
“He’s been great. He’s such a bright offensive mind and somebody who I can go to, pick his brain and learn so much from him,” Sayin said. “Him having an NFL background, we watch Steelers tape, we watch (tape from) all of the places he’s been. It’s so helpful for my development.”
During his career in the NFL, Smith has been able to give his quarterbacks a lot of control over the offense in-game since they have years of experience reading defenses and understanding the game.
He is now bringing that level of trust into the offense at Ohio State, giving Sayin the ability to make reads and make changes that he sees fit during games. Sayin said that the ability to have that kind of control hasn’t been too much for him.
“Coach Smith has done a lot of things where the quarterback is getting up there, we have multiple plays called and the quarterback is able to make a decision on what you want to run and what the defense is giving you. It’s fun as a quarterback to have that responsibility at the line of scrimmage.
“You definitely have to study a lot and know what you’re looking at, because if you don’t get it right, the privilege is taken away from you.”
Sayin understands what he’s expected to do in his second year at Ohio State. He finished his first season starting with the Buckeyes with a nation-leading 77.0 completion percentage with 3,610 yards and 32 touchdown passes to eight interceptions. Those stats got him to New York as the fourth-place finisher in the Heisman Trophy race.
But he knows that he’s expected to be better in his second year and worked on some weaknesses over the offseason in hopes of doing that.
“Over the offseason, I grew a lot in my physical traits,” Sayin said. “I think I’m throwing the ball harder. I’m still growing my game on the process side because you have coaches like Coach Day and Coach Smith who have been around great quarterbacks and who know the game really well.”
Even with all of the work that he’s done over this offseason, however, Sayin knows that probably the most important thing he has in year two that he didn’t have last season is the experience of being the starting quarterback at Ohio State.
“There’s no substitute for experience,” Sayin said. “It was great to have that experience last season, and now (it’s about) building on that this season, taking things I didn’t do well and improving them.”
