Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin is out “indefinitely” with an injury to his throwing arm, coach Ryan Day announced Tuesday.
Day declined to put a timeline on Sayin’s recovery but said the Buckeyes are planning to move forward without him through the rest of the year, including the postseason.
True freshman Luke Fahey has been the No. 2 quarterback this season, but Day said sophomore Tavien St. Clair would also get snaps with the first team this week.
Ohio State has a bye this weekend before traveling to No. 19 USC on Oct. 31.
“We’re going to play the guy that gives us the best chance to win,” Day said. “Going into the last few games, Luke’s been ahead of Tavien in terms of what we’ve seen, but now that we have a bye week, these guys are both going to get a lot of reps, and we’re going to start to put together a plan on how we’re going to move forward. We’re going to play the guy that gives us the best chance to win.”
Sayin injured his right arm in the fourth quarter Saturday during Ohio State’s 19-15 victory at No. 5 Indiana, when Mario Landino hit his right shoulder while sacking him and forcing a fumble. Sayin later emerged from the locker room with his arm in a sling.
Sayin was a Heisman finalist last year in his first season as the starter.
This year, he’s completing 71.2% of his passes for 1,772 yards. He also has thrown 17 touchdowns with just two interceptions.
Sayin threw two touchdown passes Saturday, including a 38-yarder to Jeremiah Smith on fourth-and-1 early in the fourth quarter, which gave the Buckeyes a 19-7 lead.
“Next man up,” Smith said after the Indiana game, praising the way Fahey managed the pressure in Bloomington.
Fahey, a 5-foot-11, 206-pound three-star recruit out of Mission Viejo, California, beat out St. Clair for the backup job during the preseason. He committed to the Buckeyes over Indiana and Stanford.
On his first snap Saturday, facing second-and-28 after Sayin’s fumble, Fahey scrambled for eight yards before drawing a late-hit penalty on Indiana that gave the Buckeyes a first down.
Fahey went 0-for-2 passing, and Ohio State failed to pick up another first down.
This season, Fahey has completed 9 of 13 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.
“We wouldn’t have Fahey out there if we didn’t have full trust in him,” senior guard Luke Montgomery said Saturday. “Whatever happens with Julian, it’s next man up. … It’s Fahey’s time right now.”
