The Ohio State Buckeyes have traversed “Mount CFB” and are sat atop the summit. Yet, an impending roster turnover means there’s no time for the program to rest on its laurels and revel in its success. The focus has already pivoted towards defending their proverbial throne in 2025. Teams go as far as their quarterback takes them. That’s true even with a roster as stacked across the board as the one Ryan Day has at his disposal. The 1-year, stopgap solution worked wonders with Will Howard. However, a new dawn is imminent and with it comes a new face. Peep over the horizon and 2 inexperienced ones are standing there, waiting to ascend through the depth chart. Who’ll get the nod- Julian Sayin, or Tavien St. Clair? Coach Day has subtly passed his verdict. 

Ryan Day is not in an envious position with this decision. He’s going from a fully-vetted senior statesman in Will Howard to a call between 2 QBs with a total of zero College Football starts between them. On a positive note, both are bonafide 5-star recruits, top 3 in the nation in their respective classes. On the surface level, Julian Sayin should have the upper hand. He’s been in and around the program for a year longer, learning the ropes from Day, Howard, and OC Chip Kelly. Some of that experience is bound to have permeated through to him, kind of like osmosis. Conversely, Tavien St. Clair has just come to Columbus. But he’s filthy talented himself, and the program recruited him really strongly. All of this and more was baked into Ryan Day’s answer about who’s the future QB1 for the Buckeyes.

Coach Day was confronted with the dilemma on 97.1 radio down in Columbus. An excerpt of this interview was relayed over on Sports Illustrated. The report read, “Coach Ryan Day said the team’s quarterback for the 2025 season is already on the roster, indicating he has no plans to secure another option through the transfer portal.” Day’s own comments went, “These guys are going to compete their tails off.” One particular part of Day’s statement gave away the answer, whether he meant to or not. 

“We have some good quarterbacks in the system…I shared with all of them that you had an opportunity to watch [the National Championship run] and so you’ve got to really utilize that. Because that’s exactly what we’re looking for in a leader here at quarterback.” Well, only one of these QBs, Julian Sayin, was already on the roster and saw how the Natty run transpired. This all but confirms Sayin is the QB1 heading into camp. A couple of CFB media members concurred that this is exactly what Ryan Day was suggesting if you “read between the lines”. 

Over on the SMI College Football Show on YouTube, the two hosts both agreed on what Day implied. “He’s saying that Julian Sayin is slightly favored to be the next heir apparent to Will Howard. [But] It’s all about who Chip Kelly likes, whom he’s going to keep going forward,” they said. They also praised the faith Ryan Day is showing in his inexperienced QB room and not delving back into the portal like he did with Will Howard. “I really like what Day is saying here. He’s just saying, ‘I trust these young guys’ How often do you get a coach come out and talk about a young guy who’s never played football?”

The more telling analysis came from the co-host, who dissected why Ryan Day is comfortable with a young QB this time of asking. “Ryan Day is like, ‘Yeah, we don’t need anybody else. We’re fine. We’re good.’ That is faith in the infrastructure. That’s faith in the [supporting cast], faith in the entire staff around the quarterback,” said the aforementioned host. He spoke about a shift in mentality, different from when the likes of CJ Stroud were slinging it. 

“[Ryan Day] has such a strong talent base around the quarterback, where you don’t need to throw it all on the quarterback. You can hand the ball off, you can play defense, you can play special teams. You don’t have to get too cute, right? Keep it simple,” he remarked. Instead of being a QB-dependent team, Ohio State is now a sum of its parts. This gives them the chance to deploy a player with 0 starts under centre and live with the growing pains. “You’ve got a great playmaker like Jeremiah Smith, throw it to him most of the time…,If you do things and just simplify it, you can be extremely successful. I think that’s what we’re seeing from Ohio State going forward.”

Arch Manning comparisons for Julian Sayin

In the lead-up to this week, a lot has gone down pertaining to Julian Sayin and Ryan Day. Sayin got into a media-manufactured rivalry with Texas’ Arch Manning. “[Manning] is going to be a good player for Texas. He’s gonna be in Steve Sarkisian’s offense but Julian Sayin, I think, could actually be the generational young player in this group of young guys across the country,” said Jake Crain over on the “Crain & Company” YouTube channel. Arch Manning has already got his feet wet on the collegiate level and definitely has a head start right now. But he’s also only now becoming the starter, so the comparisons are fair. 

Regarding Ryan Day, OSU athletic director Ross Bjork and President Ted Carter gave him their vote of confidence. They explicitly said a contract extension is in the works. Ryan Day is going to remain in Columbus, despite all the adversity he and his family had to go through. Everyone of a scarlet-red persuasion can now look forward to a new era, with Julian Sayin most likely spearheading it. But with Ohio State, never expect a linear trajectory. It will almost definitely be a treacherous path they follow in their quest to repeat their success next season.