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...
Browns Enter A Stretch That Could Define Their Playoff Push
The Browns are heading into a demanding part of the schedule with a trip to Tennessee that opens three straight road games, a stretch that will say plenty about how real their playoff push is. Cleveland has already stumbled away from home this season, going 1-2 on the road, so this run will test whether the team can clean up those issues fast enough to stay in the thick of the postseason race.
Beyond the immediate task of surviving the road swing, there is also a longer view creeping into the picture. Cleveland will soon have to make quarterback roster decisions for the 2026 season, adding another layer to a stretch that already feels consequential. For a team trying to keep its present season on track while planning for what comes next, the next few weeks may carry more weight than usual. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Rookie Tackle Is Already Easing One Big Cleveland Fear
The Browns have spent plenty of time trying to solve their left tackle problem, so Spencer Fanos early run has offered a welcome bit of stability. The rookie offensive lineman has already started six games and, despite the usual rookie bumps, has looked capable of handling one of the leagues toughest jobs while holding up well in front of Deshaun Watson.
Pro Football Focus has credited Fano with a 69.3 overall grade, and he has allowed 12 pressures across those six games. For a Cleveland team that has been looking for dependable pass protection, that kind of start is encouraging, even if the broader question of how steady the edge of the line will remain is still part of the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Rookie Carson Schwesinger Is Entering A Much Bigger Conversation
Carson Schwesinger keeps stacking up the kind of games that make a rookie look less like a newcomer and more like a centerpiece. Even while dealing with an ankle sprain against Baltimore, the Browns Defensive Rookie of the Year put together 13 tackles and forced a fumble, adding to a stretch that already included a strip-sack in Week 5 and a season total of 56 tackles through six games.
For Cleveland, the bigger picture is becoming hard to ignore. Schwesingers steady impact has pushed him into a conversation that usually belongs to the leagues most disruptive defenders, and the way he has produced so far has prompted comparisons to past Defensive Player of the Year winners. The question now is less about whether he has been one of the Browns best defensive players and more about how far that level of play can take him over the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]