Ohio State starting quarterback Julian Sayin will miss several weeks, according to head coach Ryan Day. The Heisman Trophy hopeful suffered a crunching hit late in his team's 19-15 win over No. 5 Indiana. His throwing arm appeared to get pinned in an awkward position when he was hit by a Hoosiers defender in the pocket.
Julian Sayin wincing on his way to the ground. pic.twitter.com/mrbd0V1hA1
— Chad Fisher DNP (@ChadFisher) October 17, 2026
Sayin went to the locker room immediately following the play and returned to the sidelines wearing a sling. His backup, freshman Luke Fahey (who was actually listed as the third-stringer prior to kickoff), took the final two drives for Ohio State and went 0-for-2, rushing twice for a net loss of two yards. It was Indiana's fatal mistake on fourth down with a minute remaining in regulation — Nick Marsh's would-be touchdown catch that was just out of bounds — that aided the Buckeyes in their escape from Bloomington with an all-important win.
But while it's a huge relief and a boost to Ohio State's Big Ten and College Football Playoff hopes, you can argue that Buckeye fans should be more concerned than anything moving forward.
Julian Sayin's injury compounds Ohio State's problems after escaping with Indiana win
The Buckeyes are entering their bye week following a game they probably should've lost if it weren't for one foot out of bounds. That gives Day time to consider his options with Sayin set to miss significant time. Ohio State faces USC (currently ranked No. 19) on Halloween exiting the bye, and if the quarterback situation isn't addressed, the Trojans could snatch a top-10 win by circumstance alone.
Fahey's performance on Saturday, albeit very limited and rushed, did not inspire confidence. He looked extremely panicked by Indiana's late-game pass rush and committed some almost game-breaking mistakes as a result. His second pass resulted in an intentional grounding call that allowed the Hoosiers to start their would-be game-winning drive from decent field position.
Ohio State's second-stringer is listed as redshirt freshman Tavien St. Clair, a former five-star who surprisingly wasn't tapped to take over after Sayin went down Saturday. He was highly touted as a recruit but apparently wasn't ready in Day's eyes to step up in a big moment. Instead, he thought a true freshman was — and it nearly backfired.
Day declared Fahey the starter going forward (although the bye week could always change things) and looking at Ohio State's remaining schedule, he's going to face some serious challenges. Aside from the immediate hurdle in USC, the Buckeyes will have to host Oregon (unranked but still dangerous), Northwestern (currently No. 25 and rising), Nebraska and finally ancient rival Michigan. Their only loss may be to Texas, but the Longhorns' own struggles make Ohio State's buffer for errors a lot thinner than it used to be.
Day also can't lean on wide receiver Jeremiah Smith to carry the team on his back. The Heisman Trophy frontrunner is a generational talent, but he also had a fellow NFL Draft hopeful tossing him the ball. Fahey doesn't look anywhere close to Sayin's level (which wasn't exceedingly high either) and we just don't know what's keeping St. Clair glued to the bench.
Even if Sayin can return before the end of the regular season, his performances were starting to slip (three INTs in his last two games including Saturday). Day is between a rock and a hard place with CFP success (if OSU even qualifies) looking less and less likely the more you examine the situation.
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