Ohio State football news: Rival coach wants to see more from Julian Sayin

The Ohio State football program is less than a month away from kicking off its 2026 season, with sky-high expectations after last year’s disappointment. While the Buckeyes finished the regular season undefeated in 2025, they lost in both the Big 10 Championship and the playoffs, ending their bid to repeat as national champions.

While they lost considerable talent to the NFL Draft this offseason, especially on defense, Ohio State will still be bringing back some key familiar faces, including Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback Julian Sayin.

Recently, one rival Big 10 coach broke down what they want to see more of from Sayin in year two.

“In the games that we played, there wasn’t much that I saw from [Sayin], other than he just ran the offense very well,” said the coach, per Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.

It’s unclear what exactly the coach wants to see from Sayin besides running the offense, which is the job of the quarterback, although there were certainly some moments in the Buckeyes’ losses to Indiana and Miami that the freshman looked a bit overwhelmed by the moment.

As far as freshman seasons go, they don’t get much better than what Sayin was able to produce during the regular season, using the Buckeyes’ vast array of talent, headlined by Jeremiah Smith, to pick apart opposing defenses and mow through the competition prior to the postseason.

However, fans and coaches alike will be expecting Sayin to take another step forward this year in his second season at the helm.

In any case, the Buckeyes are slated to kick off their new season on September 5 at home for a game against Ball State.