Ohio State may have left Bloomington with a win last Saturday, but it may have come at a season-defining price.
The Buckeyes (6-1, 4-0 Big Ten) ended the Hoosiers' (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) 22-game winning streak, but it came at the expense of quarterback Julian Sayin. Sayin suffered an apparent arm injury that was later diagnosed as an elbow injury Tuesday night, according to Ohio State coach Ryan Day during his weekly availability
Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, Day also noted that the timeline for a Sayin return is unlikely, further calling it "indefinitely" regarding his absence.
“This is all bigger than just one person,” Day said after the 19-15 win Saturday, referring to the quarterback position. “Certainly we don’t want to see [Sayin] get hurt, and we need him. At the same time, we’ll come together and figure this out. We’ve got a good team. When Luke’s in there, we just may need to do things just a little bit differently, but the bye week gives us a chance to regroup on that and put our heads together.”
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Turning to Tuesday, Day was unwilling to say whether Sayin will play for Ohio State this season, let alone again, as he is widely considered one of the NFL's hottest prospects.
"We're not gonna put any timeline on his recovery, but he is out indefinitely," Day said.
Ohio State has quickly pivoted as the bye week began to determine who Sayin's replacement will be as the season moves forward.
It appears Day is uncertain whether he'll give quarterback Luke Fahey another shot following his relief effort last Saturday, or turn his attention to Tavien St. Clair.
For now, though, Day said he seems more impressed with Fahey.
“Going into the last few games, Luke’s been ahead of Tavien in terms of what we’ve seen, but now that we have a bye week, these guys are both gonna get a lot of reps, and we’re gonna start to put together a plan on how we’re gonna move forward," Day added. "We’re gonna play the guy that gives us the best chance to win.”
Day said the process has already begun inside the football facilities, as Ohio State heads west to play the USC Trojans next Saturday night on Halloween.
“We'll get both of these guys some reps and get an idea of kind of how these next couple of days go. But based on what we've seen in practice the last month," Day said. "Luke was ahead of Tavien going into the game; that's why he went in first, but now we have to kind of come up for air and put together a plan."
Day said he could envision a scenario where both quarterbacks receive playing time.
"We need both guys to practice really well and prepare and understand that we're gonna need them to win a championship," Day said.
Should Sayin not see the field for the rest of the year, the junior quarterback will finish the season with 2,007 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and four interceptions.
And, given the aforementioned update, his shot at winning a Heisman Trophy is all but a non-factor.
For now, we'll see how the Buckeyes respond over the next few months.
