On Wednesday evening, the Ohio State football season came to an ugly end with a 24-14 loss to the Miami Hurricanes in the Cotton Bowl. Ohio State was widely seen as the favorite coming into this game, but instead, they fell behind the eight ball early and never held a lead at any point in this contest, ending their chances of a national championship repeat.
It was a particularly rough game for quarterback Julian Sayin, who threw a brutal pick six in the second quarter that put the Buckeyes behind 14-0. After the game, Sayin got 100% real on how things played out against Miami.
“I think there were some opportunities today where I could have maybe taken off and scrambled for some yards,” Sayin said, per Brianna Mac Kay of the Columbus Dispatch. “Took some sacks that weren't necessary and got us into tougher situations.”
“They have two really good edge rushers,” Sayin added. “So, we knew we were going to get the ball out of our hand quick. There were times today where I held onto the football, and they were able to get after me and get some sacks.”
In Sayin's defense, he was under pressure almost the entire evening against Miami, with the Ohio State offensive line finding itself largely unable to contain the vaunted Hurricanes defensive front.
Still, as Sayin mentioned, there were some sacks taken that likely could have been either extended or thrown away, and it will certainly be a learning moment after the first full year starting at quarterback for the Heisman Trophy finalist.
In any case, the Ohio State football program is now left searching for answers after their season came to an end well before they anticipated it would. The 2026 season is slated to get underway in nine long months.
