Ohio State QB battle: College GameDay weighs different style for Julian Sayin, Lincoln Kienholz

Following a stellar 2024 season for the Ohio State Buckeyes, which culminated in a National Championship, Ryan Day has been dealt the difficult task this offseason in deciding who will be the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback in their season opener against Texas. The job will be won by either sophomore Julian Sayin or junior Lincoln Kienholz.

Sayin was the No. 2 ranked quarterback in the Class of 2024 (behind Florida‘s DJ Lagway), while Kienholz was the No. 15 ranked quarterback in the Class of 2023. Sayin has attempted just 12 career passes, while Kienholz started the 2023 Cotton Bowl against Missouri. In the 14-3 loss, he completed just six of 17 passes for 86 yards.

During the latest edition of the “College GameDay Podcast,” ESPN’s Rece Davis discussed the quarterback battle in depth and the effect it could have on star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.

Buckeye QB battle is most interesting in country, according to Davis

“I think the quarterback battle as interesting as any other is the one at Ohio State,” Davis said. “They have Julian Sayin, who most people seem to think won the job, but Lincoln Kienholz has looked very good in the spring and pushed him it seems and staked his claim to have the opportunity.”

“They have to have the quarterback function at a high level. I went back and looked at Marvin Harrison Jr‘s game log, and there were a couple of games early (even though he and Kyle McCord had that long-standing relationship) in which they had a little trouble involving him. There was a 100-yard game early in there against a lower ranked school, but remember the opener against Indiana? He didn’t get many touches. Then that game where we were (for College GameDay) on the road where Ohio State pulled out at the end against Notre Dame. He didn’t get many (I think he got dinged up too) touches in that game, and it was later in the year before they found their stride getting him involved him in the offense.”

Davis stresses the importance of involving Jeremiah Smith

“I’m not suggesting that’s gonna be the case at Ohio State with Jeremiah Smith and a new quarterback, but it is something to at least keep an eye on because they have to be able to use arguably the best weapon in the sport and use it often. They also have a new offensive coordinator and quarterback, so it’s a really interesting thing. Even with all the turnover on offense, you sort of feel like all these highly recruited guys at Ohio State will be fine once they get their time to get more reps and more snaps to replace the [J.T. Tuimoloau]’s and the Jack Sawyer‘s and the Cody Simon‘s.”

“If they replace those guys they’ll be fine. The quarterback and using that weapon (Smith) efficiently, especially early against Texas, is the most fascinating battle of all of them.”

Ryan Day gave an update on the battle at Big Ten Media Days

Day gave an update on the Buckeyes’ quarterback battle this week at Big Ten Media Days.

“Itt’s hard to make any progress unless you’re actually on the field playing football,” Day said. “But I think both guys have gotten stronger. Will be interesting to see once we get done with our summer program with Mick [Marotti] next week … who’s Iron Buckeyes? That’ll be big for the leadership.

“But guys have taken leadership roles. They’ve been throwing with the wide receivers. I ask those guys all the time, and they like both of them. We’re going to put them in as many competitive situation as we possibly can to figure out who handles that the best because we’ve got to be on point Week 1. We can’t be messing around. I know that we’ll need all of those guys in that room this year.”

Ohio State, with either Sayin or Kienholz behind center, opens the season at home against Texas on Aug. 30. Kick-off is scheduled for 12:00 PM on FOX.