Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin broke program passing records against the Grambling State Tigers in a 70-0 shutout at the "Shoe." That performance, in conjunction with a less flashy but still efficient QB1 debut against the Texas Longhorns in a 14-7 Week 1 win at home, Joel Klatt sees repeat potential in Columbus this season.
Klatt believes that if Sayin can replicate that level of performance, to scale, of course, since the Tigers are the worst team the Buckeyes will face this season by far, Ohio State's Ryan Day can join Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart, Clemson Tigers coach Dabo Swinney, and retired Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban as the only back-to-back CFP winners.
"How about that? Not only do they beat Texas in Week 1, but they come out the very next week and just handle business, stand on business against Grambling. Quarterback Julian Sayin looked incredible. For all the talk about them not trusting him, or not being aggressive down the field in the passing game in Week 1, how about the aggressiveness in Week 2? He looked great. If he's playing like that the rest of the year, Ohio State might go back-to-back. So they're my No. 1 team in the country," Klatt wrote in his college football rankings, via FOX Sports.
OSU has already passed one of its biggest tests in Texas, but there are landmines on the schedule. The Illinois Fighting Illini, Penn State Nittany Lions, and TTUN loom large as potential traps.
Having enough stamina to last until late January will be tough for a team that has many players who played until late January last season.
That'll be on Ryan Day, Brian Hartline, and Matt Patricia, who have enough talent across the depth chart to keep the winning going all year round.
Only two freshmen have ever led a team to a championship: Jamelle Holieway in 1985 for the Oklahoma Sooners and Trevor Lawrence in 2018 for Clemson. Both of those players were true freshmen, though, while Sayin got to sit a year behind upperclassman transfer Will Howard. Tua Tagovailoa won with the Crimson Tide, but he didn't play until the title game against UGA and didn't start any games.
We'll see how many different broken narratives Sayin can create with Ohio State this season.