Julian Sayin had a chance to complete a game-winning touchdown drive.
As Ohio State faced a third down against Indiana in the Big Ten championship game in December, he rolled right.
The play-action fake left him with two tight ends breaking toward the end zone at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Sayin attempted a pass to Bennett Christian for a touchdown, but linebacker Rolijah Hardy draped him in coverage and batted the ball away.
Ten months later, the sequence hasn’t faded from Sayin’s memory.
“You think about that play a lot,” Sayin said, “because obviously we didn’t convert there in a big point in the game.”
The late incompletion loomed large in Ohio State’s 13-10 loss. Without a conversion, the Buckeyes settled for a field goal attempt on fourth down, and Jayden Fielding pulled a 27-yard attempt wide left with just under three minutes left.
When Sayin revisited the third-and-1, he considered what he might have done differently as a more experienced quarterback, seeing another option.
Following the play-action, he had running back Bo Jackson running a route toward the flat, a checkdown that could have allowed them to at least move the chains.
“Maybe we get it to Bo,” Sayin said. “I think he might have leverage and a chance for a first down.”
Sayin is a more seasoned passer as he gets another shot at Indiana a year later, entering the rematch of the top-five teams in Bloomington on Oct. 17 with a deeper grasp of the nuances of the position.
Indiana overwhelmed Sayin at times in the title-game loss, breaking into the pocket with its movement up front. He was sacked five times and took an average of 3.42 seconds to throw the ball, according to Pro Football Focus. It was the longest he held onto the ball in any game as a redshirt freshman in 2025.
Sayin feels better prepared as a second-year starter to manage situations that leave him under duress.
“It’s avoiding sacks,” Sayin said, “but also knowing when that clock is going off to be able to get the ball out of my hand and know that we’re not going to get anything else so let’s throw the ball away. I think I’ve developed that area a lot in my game.”
When under pressure through six games this season, Sayin has averaged 11 yards per pass attempt, per PFF. It was 8.1 yards last season. His NFL-style quarterback rating has also climbed to 119.6 from 96.9.
“A lot comes with it,” Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said. “It's the timing of the routes. It's the protection. And then it's the presence in the pocket and feel in the pocket. It's something all quarterbacks have a process of developing. I think you've seen a lot of progress made there.”
Sayin has also scrambled more this year in order to escape pressure and extend plays.
After scrambling 11 times for 48 yards last season, he has done so 15 times for 72 yards through six games in 2026.
“If there's opportunities to go pick it up with my legs, let's go do it, and let's go give defenses another issue to worry about,” Sayin said.
Indiana’s pass rush remains one of the best in the Football Bowl Subdivision, among the reasons the Hoosiers have started 6-0 as they defend their national title. Their 20 sacks trail only Tennessee and LSU for the most among the 138 teams.
Not only did the Hoosiers retain defensive lineman Stephen Daley following his lawsuit against the NCAA seeking a fifth year of eligibility, but also defensive coordinator Bryant Haines, who won the Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in the country.
Haines has a track record of deploying simulated pressures, stunts and other looks designed to create confusion for quarterbacks.
Sayin said he has made strides in reading defenses, a level of poise that will help to keep the Buckeyes on schedule.
“In terms of identifying and recognizing pre- and post-snap, my game has grown in that area,” he said, “because of seeing different defenses and continuing to build experience.”
But Indiana will be a barometer of his development, as he acknowledged the Hoosiers continue to use a lot of the concepts that presented the Buckeyes with issues a year ago.
“They're a different team,” Sayin said, “but they do have the same coaches and they do run a similar scheme. You definitely can watch some of their tape from last year.”
After enduring the growing pains in late 2025, he gets another chance at Indiana.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow him on @joeyrkaufman on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football's rematch with Indiana offers measure of QB Julian Sayin's growth