The Ohio State Buckeyes are heading toward a must-win game this weekend against the Oregon Ducks.
It’s definitely the type of clash where it would help to have Julian Sayin available.
Sadly for OSU, Sayin was hurt on Oct. 17 in the narrow win over Indiana.
Luke Fahey replaced Sayin that day and got a start on Halloween against USC. And it’ll be Fahey who starts on Saturday against Oregon, too.
Ohio State already has two losses and likely cannot afford another if the Buckeyes want to squeak in to the College Football Playoff.
They’ll have to pull off a winning streak to end the season without Sayin.
Julian Sayin Injury Update
Sayin’s status was updated on Wednesday night as part of the Big Ten’s availability report.
Well, it was sort of updated.
The reality is that Ohio State affirmed that nothing has changed for Sayin.
A week ago when the Wednesday report came out, Sayin was listed as out.
This time around, Sayin is again listed as out.
RB Jordan Davison is out for Oregon. Brandon Inniss and Ian Moore are questionable for Ohio State. https://t.co/8soEMobGUB
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 5, 2026
Also of note is that RB Ja’Kobi Jackson remains out heading into the Oregon game, too.
When is Julian Sayin Coming Back?
That’s the biggest frustration of all of this for Buckeyes fans — no one seems to know when Sayin might be back.
OSU head coach Ryan Day called Sayin out “indefinitely” shortly after he was hurt, and there really hasn’t been a timeline update.
Other injuries, even in college football, get insider information reported. The recent ankle sprain by Miami’s Malachi Toney, for example, had multiple updates from insiders on the day the injury happened, including a potential recovery timeline.
There has been no such reporting on Sayin.
That sure makes it feel like the outcome is negative and that Sayin won’t be back too soon. If he was coming back shortly, you’d think someone would leak that information to increase optimism, including among the College Football Playoff committee.
But a long-term absence for Sayin would be a negative look for Ohio State, and whether that’s actually what’s happening or not, it sure is feeling like things aren’t turning out great here for the Buckeyes and Sayin.
Ohio State Announces Julian Sayin Injury News Before Oregon Game