Questions abound ahead of No. 2 Ohio State’s visit to desperate Southern California on Saturday in the programs’ first Big Ten matchup.
Foremost is who will be the starting quarterback for the Buckeyes (6-1, 4-0 Big Ten) after Julian Sayin, a 2025 Heisman Trophy finalist, suffered an injury to his arm or shoulder during Ohio State’s most recent game, a 19-15 win at Indiana on Oct. 17.
Coach Ryan Day said that Sayin is likely to miss the remainder of the season, but he has not announced Sayin’s replacement. Three-star freshman Luke Fahey, from Mission Viejo, Calif., has been first off the bench over five-star sophomore Tavien St. Clair every time Sayin has come out of a game.
“Both quarterbacks practiced well last week, which was good,” Day said Tuesday. “There was good energy. Guys were rallying around both guys and we’ll keep working this week and keep working on packages for both guys.
“Luke was ahead of Tavien going into the Indiana game, but both guys are working hard, so we’ll kind of see how the next couple of days go. We need to stack a few more days and then we’ll kind of go into the game and figure out what gives us the best chance to win.”
Day also said that offensive lineman Austin Siereveld will return after missing the past two games because of a non-football-related issue.
“We should have a full week of practice and full arsenal of guys up front. That is a huge deal,” he said.
Running back Ja’Kobi Jackson will be out due to an injury, however.
USC (6-2, 3-2) has its QB in Jayden Maiava, but the question before him and the Trojans is how they will respond to a humbling 24-7 loss at Wisconsin. The seven points were the fewest scored by a Lincoln Riley-coached team.
Maiava was 31 of 50 for 257 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions, and his five sacks taken for 57 yards contributed to the Trojans rushing for a net of minus-18 yards on 25 carries.
“He made some really nice plays in the game but missed some things that we’ve just become accustomed to him making look so routine,” Riley said Monday. “We need him to play better. We certainly rely on him in a lot of ways to lead us and to play at a high level. And, you know, he wasn’t horrible but he wasn’t at his very best.”
Riley knows Ohio State can be potent even without Sayin, so matching the firepower will be important.
“We had one explosive play (against Wisconsin),” Riley said. “I don’t know that I’ve ever had that in my career of calling plays and we had 15 easy opportunities. Not saying they were easy to make, but like 15 real opportunities.”
The key for Ohio State will be getting the ball to star receiver Jeremiah Smith, who has 52 catches for 984 yards and 12 touchdowns this season.
“We’ve got to throw different looks at him,” Riley said. “You’re probably not ever going to completely shut down somebody like that, as good a player as he is. But you’ve got to try to limit the damage as much as you possibly can.”
The Buckeyes will need to provide pass protection and improve the running game to take the pressure off Sayin’s successors.
“We all have got to be tighter here,” Day said. “We’ve got to help a young quarterback get his first win as a Buckeye and it’s going to take our best and that means everyone that’s part of the program has got to be really good in everything that we do.”