Well, that went about as expected, right?
Ohio State probably maximized its visit from Grambling State nonetheless, not just pay the Tigers to take their 70-0 beating and head back to Louisiana.
Julian Sayin got to throw the ball around. He was accurate, efficient… and made a big mistake his coach is happy he can correct.
What more can you ask for?
He threw some really nice balls, too.
I had a lot of people ask me about him during the preseason, and I tried to be conservative in my estimation. He doesn’t have a rocket arm. The velocity isn’t gripping like it can be for some guys, but that’s not really a criticism. Throwing lasers is overrated sometimes.
Darts, though? Darts are good, and that is more what Sayin throws. Quick, accurate — in the right place, right now.
What was better?
A. Julian Sayin's toss
B. Carnell Tate's grab📺: BTN
— #Big Ten Network (#@BigTenNetwork)
8:14 PM • Sep 6, 2025
It is just kinda nice to watch. A little artistic, isn’t it?
He seemed to be reading the whole field and able to find the open man, hitting seven different receivers in his one half of action.
It’s tough to argue with 18-for-19 passing for 306 yards and four touchdowns, but he admitted the interception at the goal line was a bad decision (duh).
My colleague at Press Pros Magazine, Jeff Gilbert, asked after the game if he felt like he was really seeing where to go with the ball before the play, and the redshirt freshman was a little coy with his answer.
“Yeah, there's definitely some pre-snap element to it, and that's from the preparedness that the coaches have for us, but you also have to let the defense dictate where it goes based on their drops. So it's a little bit of pre-snap identification, and then post-snap confirmation, is what we say in the quarterback room.
Does he know more than he was letting on? Maybe. I guess time will tell, but he didn’t miss much Saturday.
The interception was simply a matter of getting greedy, trying to get the ball to a guy who just wasn’t quite open enough, but it’s good for him to figure out what he is and isn’t capable of now before the stage gets bigger again.
And on that note, the touchdown pass to start the game to Will Kacmarek displayed a willingness to throw into a tight spot, albeit one in which the defender was not really in position to make a play.
That was easy.
Julian Sayin finds Will Kacmarek to open the scoring for No. 1 @OhioStateFB.
📺: BTN
— #Big Ten Network (#@BigTenNetwork)
7:47 PM • Sep 6, 2025
Sayin and Day both talked about that after the game, so I guess we can call that the most interesting thing I heard on Saturday.
“That's what we talk about in practice a lot, a blind defender, when he's kind of trailing him, and he's not looking at us is an open receiver. So once I saw he had a step or two on him, I was ready to let it rip. And he made a great catch, and had some run after the catch for the touchdown.”
Other observations:
Ohio State came out emphasizing the pass, so the running game felt a little underwhelming. Then you look up and they had 274 yards on 38 carries, an average of 7.2.
Yes, it’s Grambling, but I’ve seen some games where they weren’t able to do that against similar opponents even (OK, going back to the Tressel days…)
James Peoples looked better with some experience and a little more space to operate, but Bo Jackson was a revelation. He ran for 108 yards on nine carries, including a 51-yard burst late in the fourth quarter.
🚨 BO JACKSON TD 🚨
The @OhioStateFB freshman RB's first career carry goes for a TD.
📺: BTN
— #Big Ten Network (#@BigTenNetwork)
9:55 PM • Sep 6, 2025
He was one of the handful of guys I went into the game wanting to see more of.
Another was Springfield High School grad Aaron Scott Jr., who looked great breaking on a short pass and appeared to have his first career college interception. They ended up ruling the pass incomplete, but Scott flashed some great instincts on that play.
Other guys I wanted to see (as mentioned in This Week in Ohio State Football): Mylan Graham caught one pass for 23 yards, C.J. Hicks had a tackle for loss, and Malik Hartford got his first playing time of the season with the second team at safety.
Lincoln Kienholz looked about as sharp as Sayin while completing 6 of 7 passes for 71 yards, and Tavien St. Clair did make his debut, but he was officially 0 for 2 passing.
We also got to see the giant Australian punter as Nick McLarty booted one 45 yards (and regular punter Joe McGuire, who is also from Australia, did not attempt one).
Of course the bigger revelation was another youngster I didn’t mention before the game
Linebacker Riley Pettijohn, a freshman from Texas, only had two tackles, but he seemed to be all over the place.
He returned a fumble for a touchdown, broke up a pass and forced a fumble on a textbook form tackle.
He also got a few snaps with the No. 1 defense if that tells you anything about how the coaching staff already views him.
What does it all mean?
Well, maybe nothing, but any day with a college football game is better than one without, right?
At least early in the season, I don’t think there is any doubt.
And, hey, guess what: It turns out Ohio University might not be a total pushover next week.
The Bobcats beat West Virginia on Saturday after giving Rutgers a game in week one.
If you want to see more of they had to say after game, check out my YouTube channel, and for more great sportswriting, check out my buddy Matt Brown’s newsletter that focuses on the business of college sports.
