Ryan Day breaks down how he evaluates Julian Sayin performance vs. lesser opponent

Two games into the 2025 season, first time starting quarterback Julian Sayin has seen two very different performances for the Ohio State Buckeyes. He opened the season against the Texas Longhorns‘ defense and followed that up with a game against FCS Grambling State. Unsurprisingly, those games came with two very different performances.

There was plenty for head coach Ryan Day to be happy about in the win against Grambling State. At the same time, given the level of competition, it’s more difficult to evaluate Sayin’s performance. Still, Day knows what to look for when breaking down that kind of performance.

“I think you try to do it based on your experience of seeing things,” Ryan Day said. “You know, take the passing game, for example. I mean, the spacing, the timing, location of the ball, like all those things you’re looking at to see, does this look right? Or are we getting away with things right here? Same thing up front, how’s our footwork? How’s our hand placement? How’s the communication? How’s the pad level? How are we getting off to the second level? Are we getting movement? You know, all those things you try to do the best you can, and you expect a very, very high level of execution. And when you don’t have that, you’ve got to figure out why that is.”

Julian Sayin finished the game against Grambling State completing 18 of 19 passes for 306 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception. It wasn’t perfect, but it was close to it. In particular, it was a massive statistical improvement from the Texas game, where he completed 13 of 20 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown.

For Ryan Day, he’s looking to evaluate why the results happened on tape. In some instances, it might be because of the talent gap, which prevented mistakes from being exposed. Noticing those mistakes that the Buckeyes got away with as a team then becomes vital to making sure they’re working on what they need to moving forward.

“And so it’s the same thing you’re trying to identify. Is it coaching? Is it scheme? Or is it personnel? The best you can. I will say it’s not always easy coming out of those games to identify those,” Day said. “But the more you watch it, the more you work at it, the more experience you get as a coach, you try to project the best you can on those things.”

Ohio State is set to host Ohio on Saturday. The Bobcats are another team the Buckeyes should have a clear talent advantage on. However, coming off a Power Four win against West Virginia, Ohio is confident going into The Horseshoe.