Ohio State’s march toward the College Football Playoff just hit a major roadblock.
Coach Ryan Day said Tuesday that quarterback Julian Sayin is out “indefinitely,” and that the Buckeyes are preparing as if he may not play again this season. No.
3 Ohio State will spend its bye week splitting first-team work between Luke Fahey and Tavien St. Clair before returning to action against No.
16 USC on Oct. 31.
“Based on the nature of the injury we are putting together a plan for him not being available for the regular season and him also not being available for the postseason,” Day said. “If he's not able to return this fall, we're putting together a plan for that, as well.”
Sayin was injured in the fourth quarter of Ohio State’s 19-15 win over Indiana on Saturday. Before going down, he had already put together a huge season, ranking third nationally with 2,007 passing yards and 19 touchdowns.
If he’s sidelined for the rest of the regular season, Ohio State would head into a brutal stretch without him against USC, Oregon, Northwestern, Nebraska and Michigan.
The timing matters because the Buckeyes are undefeated and sitting in a strong CFP position. In CBS Sports’ current bracket projections, Ohio State is the No. 2 seed. But the committee’s protocol explicitly allows for “the unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team's performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.”
That means Sayin’s absence is not just a depth-chart issue. It could shape how the committee evaluates Ohio State if the Buckeyes look different without him, and it could matter even more if one of Fahey or St. Clair is the starter for the rest of the year.
If Sayin somehow returns later this season, Ohio State could get some benefit of the doubt for a loss with a backup quarterback under center against USC or Oregon. But if he stays out, those same games could carry even more weight in the committee’s eyes.
The comparison to Florida State in 2023 is hard to ignore. The Seminoles were left out of the four-team playoff after Jordan Travis suffered a season-ending injury, and the committee factored in that loss when assessing the team’s outlook.
Ohio State still has plenty going for it. Jeremiah Smith is in the Heisman Trophy conversation, and the defense is giving up just 13.4 points per game. But for now, the biggest story around the Buckeyes is the one they can’t control: how the playoff committee will view them without Sayin.
In Other News...
Cincinnati Walks Into A Brutal Texas Tech Test This Week
Texas Tech has spent the last few weeks looking more and more like the kind of team that can dictate a game on both sides of the ball, and Cincinnati is walking into that reality at an awkward time. The Red Raiders have gotten a lift from J'Koby Williams and a defense that has been tough to move on the ground, which is part of why this matchup feels like such a stern exam for a Bearcats team still trying to prove it can handle a complete Big 12 opponent.
The bigger question, though, is how the Red Raiders offense has settled in around Will Hammond, who has come through a season of rehab and offseason uncertainty to give them a steadier presence under center. He has looked especially sharp in recent games against Houston and Arizona State, and if that version shows up again, Cincinnati will be dealing with a Texas Tech group that enters the week with plenty of confidence and a favorable prediction hanging over it. [Read more 🡒]
Bearcats Face A Brutal Homecoming Test They Desperately Need To Survive
Homecoming brings no soft landing for Cincinnati, which gets No. 8 Texas Tech on a weekend when the Bearcats badly need to steady themselves. The matchup comes with plenty of pressure attached after back-to-back losses, and the numbers only underline how steep the climb is. Both teams have been productive on the ground and through the air, but Cincinnati knows this one will be shaped less by reputation than by execution.
The Bearcats coaches and players have spent the week talking about the need for a clean game plan against a ranked opponent that has done a lot of things well. For Cincinnati, the challenge is not just keeping pace with a top-10 team, but finding a way to make homecoming feel like a reset instead of another step in the wrong direction. The opportunity is there, even if the margin for error feels razor thin. [Read more 🡒]