Fall camp is upon us now, with less than a month left for the college football season to begin. Teams are now busy making final adjustments and defining roles clearly for each and every player. At Ohio State, though, with Julian Sayin widely expected to be the QB1, one would expect Lincoln Kienholz to take solace with the QB2 job. But that’s not how the QB is defining things for himself. For Kienholz, as long as the season doesn’t start, the QB1 spot is wide open, and his hard work to prove himself is on full throttle.
“It’s definitely good to have a competitive room because it brings the best out of each other. But off the field, we have each other’s backs no matter what,” said Sayin back in February, and with that, everyone expected that the QB would be the starter. The prospect of Julian Sayin made sense, too, since he was coming in as a five-star QB, recruited by Saban himself at Alabama, as opposed to Kienholz, who still had to refine his QB skills after being a multi-sport athlete in high school. But come spring, the “refinement” part was massive.
Lincoln Kienholz outperformed Sayin in the spring scrimmage and also delivered a 45-yard screamer to Carnell Tate under pressure. On the other hand, Sayin threw multiple interceptions and somewhat under-delivered. “There were times this spring that he felt Kienholz was a little bit ahead of Julian,” said Ryan Day as the spring practices ended and Kienholz’s prospects became even more optimistic. Now, with fall camp going on, Kienholz has full faith that he can seal that QB1 spot and has improved greatly as a QB.
“I think it just shows that I put in some work in the offseason. I mean, in the weight room, also on the field. Just go out there and be my best, and I mean just hopefully prove to my teammates that my leadership’s there as well,” said Kienholz. As for the QB’s weight room development, he gained a whopping 33 pounds and was named among the eight Iron Buckeyes, a rare feat for a quarterback. But that’s not all; the QB has also worked hard on his game.
Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch Ohio State Buckeye quarterback Julian Sayin 10 warms up before the start of the spring game at Ohio Stadium on April 12, 2025. Columbus , EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xKylexRobertson/ColumbusxDispatchx USATSI_25912807
“I mean, I feel way different,” Kienholz said. “I’ve been in the offense for three years now, so it’s something that I think just more time, more reps, and film study, it’s helped me get better,” said Kienholz. Moreover, according to Patrick Murphy of 247 Sports, Kienholz has come a long way and “placed himself in the running to be the Buckeyes QB.” From being a “less refined” basketball and football athlete to becoming OSU’s starter will be big for Kienholz. But whether that happens or not wholly depends on whether Ryan Day is fully sold on Julian Sayin. And for now? It looks like he isn’t.
Is the QB battle between Kienholz and Sayin finalized at Ohio State?
It might have been the initial plan for Ryan Day and Brian Hartline to finalize the QB1 spot in the spring and then give that QB the first-team reps in the fall camp. Enter the wildcard, Lincoln Kienholz, who likely forced Ryan Day and Co. to reconsider all their plans. And after those spring performances and progress in the weight room, the dilemma became even stronger. Now, with just three weeks left for the season to begin, it seems like the OSU QB battle is still wide open.
“The Notre Dame and Ohio State quarterback battles are legitimate, and no true leader has emerged to this point, sources have told On3. While Lincoln Kienholz has emerged as a leader in the Ohio State locker room, Julian Sayin has an arm that sources have raved about,” reported On3’s Pete Nakos. The question now is, who will ultimately win that QB1 battle?
Ryan Day has repeatedly prioritized “command of the offense” and leadership, which will enable a QB to show consistency in route plays and notch up those third-down and red zone conversions. In that sense, Lincoln Kienholz has emerged and progressed a lot in every aspect and is homegrown, being in his third year at OSU. His spring game performance of 158 yards and 12/18 passes backed his case up. But Sayin’s arm talent is next level, along with OSU’s history of going with high-profile players like Jeremiah Smith or Emeka Egbuna, and that makes the choice much tougher.
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