Former NFL Pro Bowler slams Ohio State QB following Julian Sayin’s injury exit in win over Indiana
Ohio State’s turn to Luke Fahey is getting some major pushback, and they may have to rely on him for an extended time following the injury to Julian Sayin.
The Ohio State Buckeyes have a mixed bag of news coming out of their Week 7 win over the Indiana Hoosiers. On one hand, Ohio State can feel good about not playing its best football and still leaving with a 19-15 win in a top-5 college football battle. On the other hand, the Buckeyes have a real worry on their hands at quarterback.
Head coach Ryan Day said starting QB Julian Sayin is set to miss several weeks. With Sayin out, Ohio State turned to true freshman quarterback Luke Fahey, and that move isn’t sitting well with one former NFL Pro Bowler turned football analyst.
Seth Joyner takes aim at Ohio State’s backup quarterback
Former Philadelphia Eagles standout linebacker Seth Joyner took to X to rip Ohio State for putting an undersized freshman quarterback like Fahey on the field. Joyner called Fahey a 5-foot-5 freshman backup quarterback and let the Buckeyes have it for rolling him out in a game of that magnitude.
Fahey is listed at 5-foot-11 and about 200 pounds, so it was clearly a shot at the freshman by Joyner. Still, there’s no getting around the fact that he is an undersized quarterback, and that was a big part of his recruiting story.
Fahey was a three-star prospect out of Mission Viejo, California, in the class of 2026. Ohio State believes that if Fahey were a couple of inches taller, he would have been a high four-star, if not five-star, quarterback in the class. His size made him more of an underrated player in the eyes of the Buckeyes’ staff.
Fahey beat out former five-star recruit Tavien St. Clair for the backup job at Ohio State. St. Clair hasn’t developed into what Ohio State hoped he would be at this point in his career, and that opened the door for the freshman to move up the depth chart.
Luke Fahey struggled in his first meaningful action
Fahey had a couple of drives against Indiana, and Ohio State wasn’t able to move the ball with him under center. The freshman finished 0-of-2 passing. His best play came on the ground in the fourth quarter, when he picked up eight yards on a run.
That was a tough spot for any young quarterback to walk into. Coming off the bench in a tight top-5 matchup against a quality Indiana defense, Fahey was never set up to be highly successful. However, the limited look did leave a shadow of doubt about just how good he can be for the Buckeyes right now.
That matters because Ohio State is going to need Fahey to start some games. The Buckeyes have a road trip to USC coming up, and he could potentially be under center for the home matchup with Oregon three weeks from now. Those are two of the bigger games left on the schedule, and the margin for error in a crowded Big Ten is thin.
Ohio State has a bye week to get Fahey ready
The good news for Ohio State is the timing. The Buckeyes have a bye week before heading out to face the Trojans, which gives Day and the offensive staff extra time to build a game plan around what Fahey does well. A full week of first-team reps should help the freshman settle in after being thrown into the fire against Indiana.
Even so, what Fahey showed against the Hoosiers isn’t going to generate a whole lot of optimism around the program. Ohio State fans watched the offense stall with him on the field, and outside voices like Joyner are already questioning the decision to have him there in the first place.
Fahey has a chance to change that narrative quickly. Now it’s up to the young quarterback to go out and prove people wrong, including Joyner. The trip to USC will be telling.
