What Julian Sayin's injury means for Jeremiah Smith and the Heisman Trophy race originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Ohio State Buckeyes received devastating news following their big win over No. 5 the Indiana Hoosiers. Ryan Day's team earned a much-needed win over the reigning national champions, but it came at a cost.
This game would showcase two of the better offenses in the country. Ohio State came in as the 8th ranked offense, while Indiana was 20th in total offense. Yet combined, this game produced less than 700 yards of offense, despite how these teams have looked to this point.
Efficiency is not a word we should use to describe this game. Both starting quarterbacks hovered around 50% completions, which is decidedly less than the expectation for two fringe, possible Heisman candidates. Neither team rushed for over a hundred yards, nor did either team have any yards per carry average north of three.
Indiana’s Charlie Becker led all receivers with 165 yards on nine receptions. Potential Heisman front-runner Jeremiah Smith had a comparatively unimpressive performance, pulling in four receptions for 68 yards and one touchdown. This game would come down to defense and a missed offensive opportunity late.
This matchup also included several turnover opportunities. Two interceptions, both by Julian Sayin. Four total fumbles were caused, but only two were recovered by the opposing team. Both defenses combined for almost 150 tackles, five sacks (four by Indiana) and 11 passes defensed.
Indiana was in a position to win this game late. Josh Hoover delivered a very good ball to a wide open Nick Marsh. The receiver did everything necessary to win the game on that play, except keeping his feet inbounds. He was in bounds before the ball arrived. By the time he possessed the ball, both feet had landed out of bounds. Ohio State would take over at their own 25 with under :30 to play.
Sayin sidelined ‘several’ weeks
Ohio State was looking at a 1st and 10 from the Indiana 37-yard line, while up four with only eight and a half minutes remaining. Throughout this game, Sayin was able to get the ball out quickly and mitigate some of Indiana’s pressure. At this late play, Saying would not see Mario Landino coming off the edge.
The throwing motion, Landino folded Sayin on his right side for a big sack. The hit was worse than it looked. Sayin’s throwing arm should be compacted and folded in an unnatural way. While sandwiched between his own body and Landino, replay showed the elbow to wrist portion of his arm bent beyond the shoulder. That joint is not meant to normally bend that far. Sayin spent a significant amount of time on the ground. Sayin attempted to stay in the game until Day called a timeout.
“First on Julian, I don’t have a ton of details, but he’ll probably be out for several weeks,” Day said to begin his postgame press conference. “We’ll have to come up with a plan there.”
Freshman quarterback Luke Fahey finished the game for Ohio State. He was 0-of-2 on pass attempts as there was less than a minute remaining after Indiana failed to take the lead late. Day referred to making a plan. According to PFF, Ohio State has the No. 2 ranked quarterback room in the country.
Luke Fahey, Tavien St. Clair and Justyn Martin will comprise the remaining ‘parts’ that Day will need to utilize when he creates the ‘plan’ he eluded.
Where does this leave Smith and his Heisman race?
The front-runner in the nation might have difficulties connecting with Fahey or anyone behind him. There is a chemistry between Sayin and Smith, and a few weeks out could be a major blow for the nation's best playmaker. We'll see if he can overcome and lift the Buckeyes in the coming weeks.
This could be the point that separates Smith from the rest of the field. If he remains productive without Sayin, there's no reason why Smith shouldn't be in New York in December.
The next three weeks, while Sayin is expected to be unavailable, are still very important. No. 19 USC, Oregon and No. 25 Northwestern in order. Nebraska and Michigan round out the season, but those teams are unranked and face their own struggles before that point.
If the Buckeyes win as they should be expected to and Indiana does the same, these two teams could be headed for a rematch of the 2025 Big Ten title game.
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