From the moment former five-star prospect Julian Sayin committed to Ohio State on Jan. 19, 2024, just two days after he entered the transfer portal following the shocking retirement of Alabama head coach Nick Saban, there was a widespread presumption about how the remainder of his career with the Buckeyes would unfold. 

Julian Sayin, #10 of the Ohio State Buckeyes, jogs out for fall camp at Woody Hayes Athletic Center. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images)

Sayin, who was the highest-rated quarterback in the country coming out of high school, would spend his true freshman season learning and developing behind Will Howard, an experience that wound up providing the youngster a front-row seat to the national championship. From there, Sayin was expected to wrest control of the starting job in 2025 and keep it for however long he remained in Columbus before vaulting to the NFL, handing the keys to Tavien St. Clair — the program’s next blue-chip quarterback — on his way out the door.

For those who subscribed to this succession plan, it didn’t matter that the Buckeyes had previously signed another ballyhooed quarterback from the same recruiting cycle in four-star prospect Air Noland, the No. 56 overall player and No. 4 signal-caller in the country. Nor were they deterred by the existence of Lincoln Kienholz, a developing veteran who had already spent multiple years in Ohio State’s system, learning the ins and outs of playing for head coach Ryan Day. Those were little more than footnotes in a strongly worded thesis that vehemently believed Sayin was next in line — period.

Shortly after 11:30 a.m. on Monday, with fewer than two weeks remaining until third-ranked Ohio State hosts top-ranked Texas in one of the most anticipated season openers in recent memory (Noon ET, Aug. 30 on FOX), Day proved those droves of prognosticators correct when he announced that Sayin, a true sophomore, would be the team’s starting quarterback. The competition between Sayin and Kienholz, a former four-star prospect in his own right, dragged on a touch longer than most people anticipated given the lofty expectations that have surrounded the former for several years, particularly after he was named Most Valuable Player at the Elite 11 Finals two summers ago. 

But in the end, when it came time for Day to decide which quarterback should spearhead the Buckeyes’ defense of their national title, he chose the player for whom this opportunity has always felt somewhat preordained. And in doing so, Day perpetuated the most en vogue trend of modern college football wherein the shiny transfer quarterback almost always trumps the in-house options. 

“In a perfect world,” Day said at his news conference, “we would love to recruit high school players, develop them in the program for a few years and then watch them grow and build. But there’s no time to play the game, to mess around. I mean, you’ve gotta win now. So the best players play, and that’s how we look at it. We want to make sure we’re recruiting the best players in the country and developing them and retaining them, because that’s how you keep a culture in place. But you win games right now by playing the best players, so that’s the balance that you need to find.”

Quarterback Julian Sayin, #10 of the Ohio State Buckeyes, runs with the ball during the fourth quarter against Purdue. (Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images)

To most observers of Ohio State’s program, it seemed inevitable that Sayin’s pure talent would eventually prevail, especially considering how the career arcs of both quarterbacks had been framed by Day and other members of the coaching staff dating back to the spring of 2024, shortly after Sayin arrived from Alabama. A native of Carlsbad, California, which is less than an hour north of San Diego, Sayin has always been viewed as the prototypical West Coast quarterback, the kind of player with a sweet release and effortless control to complement his flowing mane of surfer-esque locks. He was ranked as a top-15 player in the country regardless of position from March 2022, when he entered the 247Sports Composite rankings at No. 5 overall, all the way through the conclusion of his high school career. And along the way, Sayin threw for 7,824 yards with 85 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions as a three-year starter. 

Eventually, he surpassed Florida commit DJ Lagway and Nebraska commit Dylan Raiola to become the No. 1 quarterback in the country before enrolling early at Alabama in January 2024. 

The brevity of Sayin’s stint with the Crimson Tide — he entered the portal less than two weeks after classes began — meant that he was essentially just as green as Ohio State’s other high school signees by the time he got to Columbus in late January. And while Sayin (6-foot-1, 203 pounds last year) was noticeably shorter and skinnier than the statuesque Howard, who measured 6-4 and 236 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this year, it didn’t take long for the freshman to impress with his lightning-quick delivery and pinpoint accuracy as a traditional pocket passer. Chip Kelly, who was the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator at the time, lauded Sayin last spring for being a “very fast processor” of all the different looks and wrinkles thrown at him during practice. That description was echoed by new Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia earlier this week when asked about Sayin being named the starter.

“It was really what I saw in decision-making when I’m showing different looks or having different coverages,” Patricia said, “or [when] we’re rolling through practices without scripts, you know, where things are going to be moving at a little bit of a different pace. Being able to handle the tempo of the offense and things like that, the huddle adjustments at the line of scrimmage, you know? We kind of threw a bunch of different things at them. And I think his poise, his ability to kind of see the defense and then also make really quick decisions [was a step ahead]. 

“Lincoln is a great athlete, too. He did a great job against us, obviously. But Julian, I think, just his ability to kind of see the defense, make a decision and get the ball out quick, I think that’s one of the things you want in a quarterback that’s going out there on a big stage in a big game here.”

Perhaps unknowingly, Patricia, who joined the Buckeyes in February, had put forth what is arguably the perfect summation of how Day & Co. have always viewed this year’s quarterback competition between Sayin, the natural, and Kienholz, the athlete. Where Sayin had spent much of his upbringing and high school career dedicated to playing football full-time, a luxury afforded to him in Southern California’s warm climate, Kienholz remained an impressive three-sport star through his final days at T.F. Riggs High School in Pierre, South Dakota. 

As a quarterback, Kienholz threw for 9,100 yards and 104 touchdowns in three years to become the state’s all-time leading passer. As a basketball player, he averaged 19.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game during his junior year to earn first-team all-state honors. A few months later, on the baseball diamond, he hit .472 with six home runs and went 3-0 with a 1.24 ERA as a standout pitcher. He was originally committed to Washington before flipping to Ohio State on Dec. 14, 2022. 

Kienholz’s decision to complete his senior seasons of basketball and baseball in South Dakota, rather than enrolling early at Ohio State, quickly became one of the defining storylines attached to his collegiate career. Day reminded reporters time and again that Kienholz, now a junior, was half a year younger than some of his classmates in terms of time spent in the Buckeyes’ program and several years younger in positional development than other quarterbacks who’d focused solely on football. Kienholz, unlike Sayin, was almost always described as an excellent athlete still learning the finer points of playing quarterback. And when teammates were asked to differentiate between him and Sayin over the last few months, almost all of them mentioned Kienholz’s mobility before ever talking about his arm. 

“Lincoln really has done some great things,” Day said. “As you guys know, he’s a tremendous athlete. He’s only still scratching the surface on what he can be. And so he’s going to continue to grow. And I think he knows that. I think when you get around him, you’ll feel that. If it was a quarterback who had been around football his entire life and he was kind of tapped out and hit a ceiling, he’d be more frustrated [with the outcome of this year’s quarterback competition]. I think he knows he’s still got a lot of runway here for his career. So he’s growing and getting better every day. You can see it.”

Julian Sayin #10 and Lincoln Kienholz #3 of the Ohio State Buckeyes practice a drill during fall camp at Woody Hayes Athletic Center. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images)

Given the contrasting skill sets between Sayin and Kienholz, it’s quite possible the Buckeyes can find ways to utilize the latter as a running threat in certain packages this fall, much like they attempted with former quarterback Devin Brown in 2024. Day acknowledged as much during his news conference earlier this week when explaining that Ohio State needs both of its quarterbacks healthy to navigate the ever-lengthening college football season. There’s also a clear gap between Kienholz and St. Clair, the five-star freshman, for the backup job. 

But Sayin’s anointment as the Buckeyes’ starter ensures there will be fewer and fewer reps trickling down to Kienholz in the coming months, a difficult pill to swallow for a player whose collegiate career is more than halfway done. The sport’s unyielding pressure to win makes life as a developmental quarterback harder than it’s ever been before.

“We obviously want someone who can pass the ball and has innate accuracy,” Day said. “That’s certainly something that has to happen.”

Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.

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