The Ohio State vs. Penn State game was certainly a little closer than some thought it would be, but in the second half, the Buckeyes certainly took the game into their hands. To be more specific, quarterback Julian Sayin took the game into his hands on the offensive side of the ball and led his team to a big victory.
Coming into the season, Sayin didn't get a lot of hype being a redshirt freshman and not having shown a lot before. However, now with only a few weeks left in the regular season, he is looking a someone who could seriously win the Heisman Trophy, and his performance against Penn State just might have been his best yet.
Ohio State has produced many great quarterbacks over the years and sent a lot of them to the NFL, but Sayin's performance against Penn State was great even by Ohio State's terms.
Julian Sayin had the most efficient passing performance by and OSU quarterback since CJ Stroud
Sayin certainly turned up his level of play in the second half for the Buckeyes against the Nittany Lions. His performance as a whole was great as he threw for 316 yards with only three incompletions and four touchdown passes. Sayin was averaging 13.7 yards per throw, which is a big reason for Ohio State pulling away in the second half.
According to Collegefootballdata's PPA (predicted points added), Sayin had the most efficient passing performance by an Ohio State quarterback since former QB CJ Stroud played against Toledo with 267 passing yards and five touchdowns.
Stroud is certainly considered one of the best quarterbacks to come out of Ohio State in recent years, so to be in the same category as someone like him certainly is something big. Sayin is not just efficient in the pass game overall, but on all of his throws for over 20 yards; he was a perfect 4-for-4, which really stretched the field for the Buckeyes.
Many want to say that the reason this Ohio State team is so unstoppable is because of the defense, but Sayin is showing that the offense is pretty tough to stop as well.