Julian Sayin finishes fourth in Heisman Trophy voting

COLUMBUS — Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin made it to New York City this weekend as a Heisman Trophy finalist in his first season as the Buckeyes’ starter. He was one of four finalists with a chance to win the award on Saturday night.

He didn’t win it. Instead, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza took home the most prestigious individual honor in college football. Mendoza is the first Indiana player to ever win it.

Julian Sayin finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting, finishing behind Mendoza, runner up Diego Pavia of Vanderbilt and third-place finisher Jeremiyah Love of Notre Dame. Sayin received eight first-place votes.

Sayin finished the season with 3,323 passing yards and 31 touchdowns compared to just six interceptions. He leads the country in completion percentage, completing 78.4 percent of his passes for the season, finding elite receivers Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith and helping the Buckeyes offense grow into one of the best in the country.

Those stats from the Ohio Stat quarterback weren’t enough for him to win the Heisman Trophy, although he could have won it if the Buckeyes beat Mendoza and the Hoosiers in the Big Ten Championship Game last weekend. Julian Sayin lost a start for the first time in his college career, and now he and the Buckeyes enter the College Football Playoff as the No. 2 seed — behind Indiana.

Ohio State will face the winner of No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 10 Miami at the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Eve. The Aggies will take on the Hurricanes at Noon on Dec. 20 to determine who will face the Buckeyes.

Other Ohio State players in top 10 of Heisman voting

Sayin wasn’t the only Buckeyes player to finish in the top 10 of Heisman Trophy voting for the 2025 college football season. In fact, he was one of three Ohio State superstars.

Sayin is in the top four of voting, meaning was officially a finalist on Saturday night. But also in the top 10 of the voting, which was released by the Heisman Trust on Thursday evening, were wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs.

Smith finished sixth in Heisman Trophy voting, while Downs finished ninth.

It’s the second time Ohio State has had three players in the top 10 of Heisman Trophy voting under Ryan Day; the other came in 2019 when defensive end Chase Young, running back JK Dobbins and quarterback Justin Fields were all in the top 10 of voting.

The full order from 5-10 from the 2025 Heisman Trophy voting are as follows:

No. 5: Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez
No. 6: Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith
No. 7: Georgia QB Gunner Stockton
No. 8: Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss
No. 9: Ohio State SAF Caleb Downs
No. 10: Georgia Tech QB Haynes King

Smith was on the receiving end of a bulk of Sayin’s throws, catching 80 passes for 1,086 yards and 11 receiving touchdowns on the season. He also had a rushing touchdown.

And then there’s the defensive star Downs, who finished the season with 60 tackles, five tackles for loss, a sack, two interceptions and two pass deflections.