Ohio State news: Ryan Day rattles off laundry list of ‘extraordinary’ Sayin traits

Julian Sayin was dominant in his first season as the starting quarterback for Ohio State. The combination of Sayin and receiver Jeremiah Smith may be the best duo in college football. It is not just Smith making it work, though.

Ohio State coach Ryan Day believes his quarterback is one of the best in the nation on his own, according to Steve Samra of On3.

“I think for Julian, you look for some traits that are extraordinary about him,” Day said. “I think the first thing you recognize is his accuracy. What you don’t see, but I see, is his intelligence level. He can handle high levels of information. He’s highly, highly motivated. He’s really embraced this leadership role.”

Sayin passed for 3,610 yards and 32 touchdowns last year, while throwing just eight interceptions. He was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, while also winning the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year award. He was also a second-team All-Big Ten player, behind Fernando Mendoza. Sayin also finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting.

Sayin believes that he is in line for a huge year.

“It’s been great,” Sayin said. “You know, we had that chemistry from last year and to build on that it’s been fun. I think we focused a lot on it together. Just, you know, like how can we get on the same page on everything and how can we get to the point where we kind of know what each other is thinking.”

He also wants to focus on being more aggressive this year.

“I think we have grown in that area and built that connection,” he added. “I think there were times last year where I could have been more aggressive taking shots to him.”

Ohio State is expected to be one of the best teams in the nation this year. They open the season on September 5 against Ball State.