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.
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Ohio State Now Faces A Huge Offensive Reset After Indiana
Ohio State walked out of Indiana with a 19-15 road win that snapped the Hoosiers 22-game unbeaten streak at home, but the bigger takeaway for the Buckeyes came after the final whistle. Julian Sayin left the game with an injury and is expected to miss several weeks, leaving Ohio State to rework its offense at a point in the season when continuity matters most.
Luke Fahey is now set to make his first start in Sayins place, and that changes the look of everything around him. The Buckeyes can lean on a defense and special teams that still grade well in the national and Big Ten statistical rankings, but the offense now has to absorb a major reset while the staff waits for more clarity on Sayins recovery. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Suddenly Faces A Backfield Question Fans Wont Ignore
Ohio States backfield took a hit this week when JaKobi Jackson had surgery for a Lisfranc injury in his foot, putting him on the sideline for at least the next several games. The Buckeyes had been counting on depth in the running game, and now the focus shifts to how they handle the early stretch without one of the pieces they were planning to lean on.
Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said the timeline for Jacksons return is still uncertain, even as Ohio State hopes to have him back for the rivalry game against Michigan and the postseason. That leaves the Buckeyes waiting on a key injury update at a time when every week of availability matters, especially with the season moving toward its biggest games. [Read more 🡒]
Buckeyes Fans Had Two Former Stars To Watch All Over Sunday
Sunday offered Ohio State fans a familiar kind of rooting interest, with several former Buckeyes spread across the NFL slate after the programs win over Indiana in the 2026 college football season. The leagues Week 6 schedule had its usual mix of results, including the Texans international trip to London and a last-second field goal in that game, along with wins for a long list of teams from the Broncos to the Browns.
For Buckeyes followers, though, the intrigue went beyond the scoreboard and into the individual performances of a couple of ex-stars who continue to matter at the pro level. One was in Houston, where a familiar Ohio State connection had a new wrinkle in the Texans win, while another was out in Seattle, where the result did not go his teams way but his play still stood out enough to keep Columbus paying attention. [Read more 🡒]