As Ohio State sits in a rare spot without a confirmed opponent for its first-round bye in the College Football Playoff, quarterback Julian Sayin is getting ready for any scenario.
In Sayin’s press conference on Wednesday, the redshirt freshman said that he is preparing for both of Ohio State’s potential quarterfinal matchups whether it’s No. 7 Texas A&M or No. 10 Miami (Fla.).
“I’m definitely going to watch both,” Sayin said. “I’m excited to watch that game on Dec. 20. I’m excited to watch that one and I will be prepared for both, because they’re both great teams, and either one of them can win that game.”
As Sayin mentioned, Ohio State won’t know its opponent until the Dec. 20, leaving nearly 10 days for the Buckeyes to regroup from its 13-10 Big Ten Championship Game loss to No. 1 Indiana.
Sayin said Ohio State is only looking ahead after its defeat to the Hoosiers, citing how he feels the Buckeyes can make a deep run similar to how their late loss to Michigan last season ignited them through the playoffs in 2024.
“I think you saw what happened last year and saw how we were fueling into the playoffs, and we know we can go do it again,” Sayin said. “We know what happened on Saturday, we know what went wrong, we just got to go fix the mistakes and fix the execution.”
Ohio State will find out its first-round playoff opponent at the culmination of Texas A&M and Miami, who will face off at noon on Dec. 20. The Buckeyes are set to take on the winner in the Cotton Bowl at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 31.
