Julian Sayin is presumed to be at the height of his game as the Buckeyes match up tomorrow night with the Miami Hurricanes. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
To expect more from Julian Sayin’s freshman season as Ohio State’s quarterback is a lot to ask. But it’s playoff time, so the Buckeyes need even more from the California kid.
Arlington, TX – Mario Cristobal, head football coach for the Miami Hurricanes, would make a great publicist for Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin.
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“He was a sure-fire Heisman finalist,” Cristobal began at Tuesday’s pre-Cotton Bowl news conference in the Jerry Jones opulence of AT&T Stadium’s Main Club North.
Then he listed his reasons why.
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“He has complete control of the offense, extremely accurate.”
“He gets you in the right place.”
“He knows where pressure is coming, where it’s not coming, where he’s protected and where he’s not.”
“Delivers the ball on the run, in the pocket, on the move.”
“Certainly, a guy that can beat you a lot of ways, he can extend plays, can improvise.”
And then, most importantly of all, Cristobal stated the most gigantic of reasons Ohio State is the No. 2 seed in the college football playoffs and the betting favorite to win a second straight national championship.
“He (Sayin) does not look like a young guy playing the position.He looks like a guy that’s been there for a long time that has complete control of the offense.” – Miami coach Mario Cristobal
“He does not look like a young guy playing the position,” Cristobal said. “He looks like a guy that’s been there for a long time that has complete control of the offense.”
And for Ohio State to win three playoff games and hang another larger-than-life banner in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, Julian Sayin must be 100% that guy. He won the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award on Tuesday, but awards don’t win playoff games.
But first things first. For Ohio State to defeat Miami in the New Year’s Eve Cotton Bowl playoff quarterfinal and continue toward another Natty, Sayin will have to be better than a freshman. He must play like what Cristobal said: “…a guy that’s been there for a long time …”
Football is 11 on 11. Doesn’t matter. Sayin must be worth more than one man for the Buckeyes to get what they want. They can’t count on the line to be dominant or the running game to be great at moving the chains.
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Remember how Urban Meyer liked to remind the masses that the quarterback is in many ways the product of the talent and execution of the other 10. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day echoed that idea.
“We have to be efficient, and that’s everybody involved with it. It’s not just the quarterback getting the ball out, or the line straining, which they have to do, but it’s the receivers have to run the route. It’s everybody tied in with the timing of everything that comes with it.” – Ryan Day
“We have to be efficient, and that’s everybody involved with it,” Day said. “It’s not just the quarterback getting the ball out, or the line straining, which they have to do, but it’s the receivers have to run the route. It’s everybody tied in with the timing of everything that comes with it.”
Meyer and Day are correct, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all axiom, it’s not the entire story. It’s a statement meant to get reporters and fans off the back of an under-performing quarterback. Or, in this case, don’t put all this on the young quarterback.
Truth is, not even Meyer will deny the quarterback is the most important player on offense. If the other 10 are lacking, good QB1s fill in the gaps and lift teams to higher levels. The best ones carry teams.
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But no amount of great play by the other 10 ever makes up for lackluster QB play at the highest levels of football. The first change a coach makes for an underperforming offense, the first player subjected to finger pointing? The quarterback.
Day is fond of saying quarterbacks make their money on third and fourth downs, in two-minute drills, in all stressful situations. Is Julian Sayin that guy? Probably. But do we know that yet at this stage?
Statistics, what we think we’re seeing, and speculation are the only evidence we have.
And that evidence gives the Buckeyes confidence. Sayin led the nation in passer rating and completion percentage. His 31 touchdown passes tied for third and were only three behind the leader. His six interceptions were comparatively high among starters.
“You can’t substitute experience, and he’s learning,” Day said. “For Julian, to his credit, when you don’t make the same mistake twice, it gives you the best chance for growth, and that’s what he’s done.”
“For Julian, to his credit, when you don’t make the same mistake twice, it gives you the best chance for growth, and that’s what he’s done.”
Day also likes to talk about how past performances and practices can be encouraging. But how players perform in the next game, in a tight spot? That’s what counts.
“He wants to be playing his best football this time of year,” Day said.
Miami’s focus will be on Sayin, attempting to ensure he doesn’t have time to do what he’s been trained to do, what he’s naturally exceptional at. The Hurricanes will bring Category 4 and Category 3 storms – at the least – off both ends of their defensive line: No. 4 Rueben Bain Jr. and No. 3 Akheem Mesidor.
The Hurricanes will do everything to be like the four winds converging to disrupt Sayin’s timing with Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate.
All of this on the same field, under the 53-yard video board that hangs 90 feet above the artificial turf, where the Buckeyes defeated Texas last year. Jack Sawyer provided the highlight for history, returning a fumble for a clinching touchdown when Quinn Ewers failed in the big moment to reach his ceiling.
Can Sayin reach his freshman ceiling or surpass it and ensure an Ohio State victory? It’s a high ceiling under the highest of ceilings to reach.
“He’s got a lot of football ahead of him,” Day said. “He’s got a huge ceiling.”
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