COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Julian Sayin’s main focus during Ohio State’s fall camp last year was on winning the starting quarterback job.This season, there’s no doubt on who is commanding the huddle.Sayin was elected as one of Ohio State’s seven team captains while teammates have noticed a more confident and vocal Sayin as the top-ranked Buckeyes prepare to host Ball State in their season opener on Sept. 5.“He’s doing a great job using his voice more, taking command of the offense,” wide receiver Jeremiah Smith said. “When he’s in the huddle and guy’s are talking, he’s telling everybody to shut up. So you see that swagger coming out of him, a lot of different things. He’s taking that step for sure.”Sayin has plenty of reasons to be confident. He was a Heisman Trophy finalist last season after leading the nation with a 77% completion rate while throwing for 3,610 yards and 32 touchdowns with only eight interceptions.
He also was the first Ohio State quarterback to have two games where he completed at least 85% of his passes for more than 300 yards, at least three touchdowns and no interceptions.Sayin pointed to familiarity with the group as one of the reasons for being more assertive. But he also admitted it was something that he also needed to work on.
