Ohio State is still undecided on a starting quarterback with a little more than two weeks until the 2025 season kicks off. Coming off of a national championship season, the Buckeyes have a battle on their hands between Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz. Many, including college football analyst Josh Pate, believe that Sayin will win […]
Ohio State is still undecided on a starting quarterback with a little more than two weeks until the 2025 season kicks off. Coming off of a national championship season, the Buckeyes have a battle on their hands between Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz.
Many, including college football analyst Josh Pate, believe that Sayin will win the job. A five-star recruit from the 2024 class, he seems the obvious candidate after sitting one season behind Will Howard.
But Pate also warned not to rule the possibility of Kienholz out. Because based on comments from coach Ryan Day, this competition isn’t just for show.
“This Ohio State quarterback competition has been for real,” Pate said on the Josh Pate College Football Show. “Kienholz is a better athlete than Julian Sayin. He probably gives you a more dynamic threat with his legs. I have thought, and still think, Julian Sayin is going to win this job. But it doesn’t matter what I think, because I think the Ohio State coaching staff believes he’s gonna win the job. He’s gotta take then job and he hasn’t taken the job yet. That’s the beauty of competition.
“…I mean, I’m looking at quotes from Ryan Day. ‘This is gonna go down to the wire.’ I don’t think he’s BS’ing. I think he’s being dead honest about that. What you run the risk of is, they play Texas Week 1. It’s not a layup game in Week 1.”
In fact, the battle between Sayin and Kienholz is reminiscent of another that occurred a few years ago at Alabama. Pate remembered how former five-star quarterback Blake Barnett had the upper hand all offseason over true freshman Jalen Hurts in 2016, similar to how Sayin is believed to be ahead of Kienholz.
Barnett did end up starting the season opener that year against USC. But his stint in the game didn’t last long. Hurts eventually took over for him and remained the starter for the rest of the year.
“That was the same dynamic there (as Sayin and Kienholz),” Pate said. “The dynamic was Barnett was a former five-star quarterback and all throughout spring he had a leg up on this Jalen Hurts kid from Channelview, Texas. No one really knew much about him yet. Then in summer, Hurts is working his tail off, still think it’s gonna be Barnett’s job. Fall camp, Barnett’s taking reps with the ones. He’s gonna start against USC, but Jalen Hurts may get a couple series.
“…What happened was Blake Barnett, if you’ve ever seen a deer in headlights, you know what that game was like for him. Barnett had no shot. Then Jalen Hurts comes in and Hurts took the job. The point being, everything you said you thought over a six, seven, eight month period just evaporated in the matter of a quarter or two. You run the risk of that happening here. The longer this goes without naming a starter, you run the risk of that happening.”
That doesn’t mean that the compeition between Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz will end exactly the same way. Perhaps Sayin will win the job and keep it, or maybe Kienholz surprises and takes it from him before the season starts.
Either way, it’s the biggest storyline to follow heading into these final two weeks of fall camp. Fans will keep their eyes peeled for an announcement from Day, but even when it comes, there’s still the knowledge that is have to be proven on the field.
Category: General Sports
