The Ohio State Buckeyes are at their bye week after a top-5 road win over the Indiana Hoosiers. The victory adds a strong road result to Ohio State’s resume, but it came at a cost. Starting quarterback Julian Sayin left the game with an injury, and Ohio State coach Ryan Day recently said Sayin will be out for several weeks.

Sayin came back out of the locker room in a sling for part of the fourth quarter and returned to the sideline. The Buckeyes now look to be relying on a true freshman quarterback to start potentially the rest of the way following the latest update, beginning with a huge Big Ten road trip to Southern California.

Ryan Day gives another update on Julian Sayin

Day addressed the injury Monday, when he said Sayin will miss at least several weeks. He finally opened up more on the injury Tuesday with where things stand. 

“We’re not going to put any timeline on his recovery, but he is out indefinitely,” Day said. “What we’re trying to do is give Julian and his family the space and privacy to go through this process. Based on the nature of the injury, we are putting together a plan for him not being available for the regular season and then him not being available for the postseason. And so based on that, and if he’s not able to return we’re putting together a plan for that as well.”

That puts quarterback Luke Fahey in line to start for the Buckeyes. Fahey finished the game against Indiana and attempted only two passes, both of which fell incomplete. The former three-star recruit out of California is now set to start multiple games for Ohio State after seven games of Sayin running the offense.

Coming out of the bye week, Ohio State will go on the road to face No. 16 USC in Southern California at 7:30 p.m. ET. It will be the first career start for Fahey. It will also be the first game since the 2024 season that Ohio State takes the field without Sayin as its starting quarterback.

Expectations stay the same for the Ohio State offense

This is a tough spot for the Buckeyes to be in, but the expectations for this offense aren’t going to change. Ohio State’s attack runs through wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who sits just under 1,000 receiving yards with only seven games played.

Smith will be a big part of the plan to ease the transition for Fahey. A young quarterback making his first start on the road needs a reliable target, and few teams in the country have one like Smith. Getting the ball into his hands early and often should help the offense find a rhythm.

Having to rely on a backup quarterback isn’t ideal at this point in the season. Still, if the absence lasts only several weeks and Fahey can keep the Buckeyes afloat and continue winning, Ohio State will remain in a great spot.

The schedule doesn’t do Ohio State any favors. With the latest timeline, Sayin is likely going to miss the games against USC and Oregon coming out of the bye week.

Going into the season, those two matchups stood out as two of the biggest on the Buckeyes’ schedule. The USC game is still just as big, with the Trojans ranked No. 16 and the game set for a primetime road environment. Oregon has fallen off a bit and is unranked, but that game will still be a key matchup for Ohio State at home.

Fahey will have a chance to prove he can handle the moment. The Buckeyes don’t need him to be Sayin, but they will need him to avoid mistakes and let the talent around him do the heavy lifting. The next few weeks will show whether Ohio State can keep its College Football Playoff hopes on track without its starting quarterback.