How Ohio State football's Julian Sayin made adjustments without Carnell Tate in Purdue win

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How Ohio State football's Julian Sayin made adjustments without Carnell Tate in Purdue win

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. − With Carnell Tate out due in a 34-13 win at Purdue on Nov. 8, Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin was without half of the wide receiver duo that has helped elevate his game to Heisman Trophy contention.

Additionally, he was riding 173 pass attempts since throwing his last interception, against Ohio on Sept 13. He broke that streak in the third quarter at Purdue, throwing a pick to defensive linebacker CJ Nunnally with the Buckeyes‘ offense looking to score within the red zone.

“I was being reckless with the football,” Sayin said about the mistake. “I’ve got to own it. (I) can’t be taking chances like that in the red zone. We have a field goal at that point, you know, throw it away.”

The interception barely mattered.

In his first game of the season without Tate, Sayin completed 27 of 33 passes for 303 yards with one touchdown and an interception in the 34-10 win, Sayin’s third straight week topping 300 yards. He connected with top receiver Jeremiah Smith throughout the contest, and Smith had a career high 10 receptions and finished with 137 receiving yards.

Sayin completed throws to nine different targets, including several he shouted out after the game. He credited Bryson Rodgers, Mylan Graham and Brandon Inniss specifically for stepping up.

“Jeremiah (Smith) was getting doubled after the first couple of drives,” Sayin said. “… I think just seeing those guys step up, it was awesome today. We focus on that in practice.”

Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin throws a pass against Purdue on Nov. 8.

Sayin discussed a crucial play that kept the touchdown drive for Smith alive. On third-and-8 earlier in the drive, Sayin read the Boilermakers‘ man coverage look and spotted a double team on Smith. He instead went to Rodgers, who made a catch over the middle on a dig route. Rodgers had two catches for 30 yards

Seven plays later, Sayin threw a pristine deep touchdown pass to Smith, who made an over-the-shoulder grab. It made Smith the fastest Ohio State wide receiver to 25 receiving touchdowns in program history.

“It was very pretty, though,” Smith said about the touchdown throw. “Just looking at the ball coming down, you’re about to catch it. You got to see it for yourself, man … but the ball that he threw was on time and perfect.”

Coach Ryan Day said Tate was not listed on the pregame injury report. Day did not say what the injury is.

“We felt like he was going to be OK to play,” Day said, “but when he went through warmups, he just felt something there, and we wanted to be really careful. Could he have played? Probably.”

Sayin missed just six throws and held an 82% completion percentage, retaining his FBS lead. In the Nov. 1 game against Penn State, Sayin completed throws of 57 and 43 yards to Tate.

Sayin did not let his first interception in Big Ten play define him.

Said Smith: “Nah, that’s Julian Sayin trophy right there. The Heisman (trophy) goes to Julian Sayin.”

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: How Ohio State QB Julian Sayin adjusted without Carnell Tate vs Purdue

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