Ohio State's Julian Sayin finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting
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Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin finished fourth in the final voting for the Heisman Trophy, coming up short in the race for college football’s most coveted individual award.
Sayin had been named as one of the four finalists after he ended the regular season as the most accurate passer in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
In his first year as a starter, the redshirt freshman completed 78.4% of his passes for 3,323 yards and 31 touchdowns, leading the Buckeyes to a perfect regular season and one of the top four seeds in the College Football Playoff. His completion percentage is on pace to set the single-season FBS record.
Sayin’s fourth-place finish was the highest for a Buckeyes quarterback since C.J. Stroud was third in 2022.
Wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs also finished in the top-10 this year, giving the Buckeyes three top-10 finishers for the first time since 2019.
Who won 2025 Heisman?
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza made history as Indiana’s first winner during the ceremony on Dec. 13.
His invitation to New York already put him in rare company as only the Hoosiers’ second finalist, following running back Anthony Thompson who finished second to Houston quarterback Andre Ware in 1989.
Mendoza, who led the FBS with 33 touchdown passes after transferring from California after last season, also beat out Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love and Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who were also among the four finalists.
Why Julian Sayin lost out to Fernando Mendoza in Heisman race
Some oddsmakers listed Sayin as a slight favorite to win the award after he threw three touchdowns at Michigan on Nov. 29, helping the Buckeyes to snap their four-game losing streak in the bitter rivalry.
But he lost ground in the race after he was on the wrong end of the de facto Heisman battle with Mendoza in the Big Ten championship game last weekend.
The lasting image of Sayin in Indianapolis was a potential game-winning touchdown pass to tight end Bennett Christian that was broken up in the end zone late in the fourth quarter.
Mendoza had previously orchestrated a go-ahead touchdown drive in the third quarter when he launched a 51-yard pass over the middle to Charlie Becker on third down before a back-shoulder pass into the grasp of Elijah Sarratt to move ahead of the Buckeyes.
It’s rare for quarterbacks, who are defined by their team success, to win the Heisman in immediate aftermath of a loss in the conference title game, as it’s happened only twice in the last two decades.
Sayin had been looking to snap Ohio State’s near two-decade Heisman drought as quarterback Troy Smith from 2006 remains the Buckeyes’ most recent winner.
Heisman voting results
Mendoza captured the Heisman with 2,362 points, including 643 first-place votes, a sizable gap between him and Pavia, who was the runner-up.
Pavia and Love were second and third in the final voting with 1,435 points and 719 points, respectively. Sayin was fourth with 432 total points, which included eight first-place votes.
Heisman recent winners
- 2025: Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana
- 2024: Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Colorado
- 2023: Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU
- 2022: Caleb Williams, QB, USC
- 2021: Bryce Young, QB, Alabama
- 2020: DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama
- 2019: Joe Burrow, QB, LSU,
- 2018: Kyler Murray, QB Oklahoma
- 2017: Baker Mayfield, QB Oklahoma
- 2016: Lamar Jackson, QB Louisville
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow along on Bluesky, Instagram and X for more.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Why Julian Sayin finished fourth in Heisman race: Full voting results
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