Ohio State Quarterback Julian Sayin Uses Legs To Make Plays In Spring Game

Fighting the rain throughout much of Saturday’s spring game, the offense made plenty of mistakes in a 35-26 loss to the defense, but starting quarterback Julian Sayin made strides in the exhibition.

Sayin didn’t seem to have too much to improve upon this spring after an outstanding first season as Ohio State’s starting quarterback. Sayin, who finished the season as a Heisman Trophy finalist, threw for 3,610 yards, 32 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, while completing 77.0 percent of his passes, the best mark in college football.

However, like many other Buckeyes, Sayin had some struggles in the postseason and at times seemed reluctant to pick up available yards with his legs.

Day has said throughout the offseason that he wants Sayin to make improvements as a runner and with his pocket presence, and in spring game that growth was on display.

Sayin threw for 82 yards and an interception while completing 8/15 passes, and on the ground, he rushed for 10 yards and a touchdown, with the touchdown coming on a 4th-down scramble from the 4-yard line.

Sayin’s path to the end zone was cleared after senior linebacker Christian Alliegro pulled up rather than making contact with the former five-star gunslinger.

Day said he was unsure if the play would have resulted in a touchdown if his quarterback was able to be hit, but he appreciated seeing Sayin make plays with his legs.

“It’s hard when he’s not live,” Day said when asked about Sayin making plays with his legs. “We’re not going to make him live today, but it’s been an emphasis point. You can see that he’s aware of that and looking to do some of that.”

“I don’t know what would have happened on the first drive,” Day said. “It would have been a pretty big collision right there between he and (Christain), I think, but he was moving well. He’s moved well this spring, but certainly it’s a lot different when you’re live and so that’s going to be the challenge for him all summer, to continue to work on pocket presence and then making plays with legs.”

Although Day was at least somewhat skeptical on what would have happened if his quarterback and Alliegro collided in a real game near the end zone, Sayin has complete confidence in himself that he would’ve picked up the extra yard.

“100 percent, I’m scoring,” Sayin said. “As a quarterback, there’s going to be moments where you have to drop your shoulders and go get the first down or go get a touchdown for the team.”

Without taking hits, it’s not necessarily easy for quarterbacks to improve as runners, but Sayin said he’s working on identifying the best times to use his legs.

“It’s kind of like what Coach (Day) said, having the pocket presence and having the  internal clock in your head of (knowing) when to escape and when do we need to extend plays with our legs, if it’s man coverage and nobody else gets the quarterback, take off and go make a play,” Sayin said when asked how he’s tried to improve as a runner without being live. “So I think just having that awareness and trying to keep developing. That is something that I’ve worked on this spring.”