The Ohio State Buckeyes are in the middle of their bye week, and it couldn’t come at a better time. Ohio State is 6-1 and coming off a top-5 win over the Indiana Hoosiers, but the quarterback situation has changed in a hurry. The Buckeyes are likely going to be without QB Julian Sayin for the rest of the season following his injury. 

That’s a tough pill to swallow for a team with Big Ten championship and national championship aspirations. Still, it’s next man up in Columbus. All signs point to freshman QB Luke Fahey being the guy for the Buckeyes, and his first test will be a road game at USC.

The Sayin news also puts a big decision on the plate of Ohio State head coach Ryan Day. It’s one that will l extend into January and play a role in how the Buckeyes approach the transfer portal.

Julian Sayin’s future at Ohio State is now in question

With Sayin’s season ending seven games into the 2026 campaign, it’s hard to see him making the leap to the NFL. He already wasn’t viewed as one of the top quarterback prospects in the 2027 NFL draft. Before the injury, Sayin looked like a player who was going to end up back in school anyway. Now it’s all but a lock that he’ll be playing college football next year.

The question for Day is whether he can trust Sayin to lead Ohio State to its goals next season. Sayin would be coming off a serious injury of some sort. The severity of the injury hasn’t been made public, and while those inside the building know more, it’s going to force the Buckeyes to make a decision at quarterback for 2027.

Sayin has 19 touchdown passes to four interceptions, but those numbers don’t tell the whole story. WR Jeremiah Smith does a lot of the heavy lifting in this offense, and Sayin hasn’t been spectacular otherwise. I just don’t see a world where Ohio State openly welcomes him back and hands him the starting job in 2027 coming off a serious injury when he wasn’t all that dominant before it.

Buckeyes could go big fishing in the transfer portal

There’s a very good chance Ohio State’s 2027 starting quarterback isn’t on the roster right now. The Buckeyes could go big fishing in the transfer portal come January. Several big names will be out there like there are every year now, and Ohio State would be an attractive landing spot for any of them.

That could lead to Sayin transferring elsewhere to start next year. The other option is staying in Columbus and battling it out with whoever Ohio State brings in. Neither path is a guarantee for him.

As for the in-house options, the odds of Fahey or Tavien St. Clair becoming the long-term solution doesn’t look great at the moment, at least for 2027. However, one of them, likely Fahey, will get a chance to prove they can be that player over the rest of the season. A strong finish from Fahey, starting with USC, could change the conversation.

Ryan Day has gone this route before

Day has shown he’s willing to turn to the portal for a quarterback. He did it with Will Howard a couple of years ago, and Howard played a role in the Buckeyes winning a national championship during the 2024 season. That blueprint is still fresh in Columbus.

This injury opens the door for a big decision at the most important position on the field. It’s a tough outcome for the Buckeyes and one few saw coming, with Sayin potentially having already played his last game at Ohio State.

Everything has to be on the table at this point, and decisions aren’t likely to come until early January. Still, expect Ohio State to be a player in the portal at quarterback.