Sayin, a former five-star prospect and No. 1 quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class out of Carlsbad (California), enrolled at Ohio State in January 2024 after a brief stint at Alabama. Despite limited game reps last fall, he's widely seen as the frontrunner in the Buckeyes' current race.

The Ohio State standard is not satisfied by one national championship season. Head coach Ryan Day still has plenty of work to do in Columbus.

C OLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State coach Ryan Day hasn’t named a starter at quarterback yet but he did go into some detail Thursday about what he will be looking for as Lincoln Kienholz and Julian Sayin compete to replace Will Howard, who led the Buckeyes to their sixth national title and first in a decade in January.