The image that matters from Ohio State's biggest win of the season is not a touchdown celebration. It is a quarterback walking back out of the Bloomington locker room with his throwing arm in a sling.
Three days later, Ryan Day put words to what that sling meant.
"We are not going to put any timeline on his recovery, but he is out indefinitely," Day said of Julian Sayin, according to USA Today.
Then he said the part that turned an injury update into the biggest story in college football: "We are putting together a plan for him not being available for the regular season and then also him not being available for the postseason," Day said, per the Associated Press. "So based on that, if he's not able to return this fall, we're putting a plan together for that as well."
Indefinitely is a coach's word. Planning for the postseason without him is a program bracing for impact.
The hit that changed the race
Ohio State won the game. That part is easy to forget. The third-ranked Buckeyes rallied for a 19-15 victory at sixth-ranked Indiana on Saturday, improving to 6-1 and 4-0 in the Big Ten, per the AP.
But in the fourth quarter, Mario Landino hit Sayin's right shoulder while sacking him and forcing a fumble, ESPN reported. Sayin missed the final series. True freshman Luke Fahey came in and went 0-for-2 across 10 snaps, according to the AP. Sayin later reappeared on the sideline in a sling.
Day did not disclose the specific injury and said he wanted to give Sayin and his family privacy, per USA Today.
What Ohio State loses is not a caretaker. Sayin had thrown for 2,007 yards with 19 touchdowns and four interceptions while completing 68.2 percent of his passes this season, according to Buckeyes Wire. Two of those four picks came against Indiana, which tells you how rarely he gave defenses anything. He was the steady hand on a roster built to win in January.
Now the steady hand is in a sling, and the roster still has January plans.
Fahey or St. Clair: the bye-week audition
The only mercy in the timing is the calendar. Ohio State is off this weekend before traveling to USC on Oct. 31.
"If this wasn't a bye week, we'd have to roll," Day said, per the AP. "We're going to have to get it organized quickly."
The competition is a true freshman against a sophomore who arrived with a big recruiting profile. Fahey has been the No. 2 all season. In three games, he is 9 of 13 for 203 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, per the AP. Tavien St. Clair has played in two games and is 5 of 7 for 52 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.
"Going into the last few games, Luke's been ahead of Tavien in terms of what we've seen," Day said, per ESPN, "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."
Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith sketched both sides of the coin. "With Luke, I like the way he prepares. For a guy who is young, he has a pro mindset," Smith said, per the AP. "Tavian has a big arm and can extend plays. Both have strengths that you like."
The banner on the wall
Ohio State does have a precedent, and Day is not shy about it. It hangs inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
In 2014, as the AP recounted, Braxton Miller hurt his right shoulder in the preseason. J.T. Barrett replaced him and then broke his right ankle against Michigan. Cardale Jones took over and led the Buckeyes to three straight wins and the first national title of the College Football Playoff era.
"We're going to need them to win a championship," Day said, per the AP. "It's been done before, and it's a challenge to them and the team to pick up the slack for losing Julian."
It is also a reminder of how strange this is for this program. The last time an Ohio State quarterback started because of injury was 2021, when Kyle McCord filled in for C.J. Stroud against Akron, per the AP. That was a September tune-up. This is a title chase.
"A coach can say you're one snap away until it is real," Day said. "They have to perform at a high level."
A November that does not grade on a curve
Whoever wins the job does not get a soft landing. The AP laid out the road: at USC in prime time on Oct. 31, home against Oregon on Nov. 7, Northwestern on Nov. 14, at Nebraska on Nov. 21 and Michigan on Nov. 28. A Big Ten title game in Indianapolis on Dec. 5 is still very much on the table.
The good news for Ohio State is that the cast around the quarterback is not young. The Buckeyes have one of the nation's more experienced offensive lines, and the receivers are led by Jeremiah Smith, whom the AP called the Heisman Trophy favorite. Arthur Smith said the offense will be adapted to whoever starts.
"You try to play to the strengths of the offense," Smith said, per the AP. "You can have Aaron Rodgers or Peyton Manning and still need a run game."
Translation: the ground game, which the AP described as inconsistent, now has to grow up fast. Asking a freshman to carry an offense alone is a recipe for November turnovers. Asking him to get the ball to Jeremiah Smith and stay out of the way is a plan.
Bigger than one person
Day framed it the way coaches must. "This is all bigger than just one person," he said, according to Buckeyes Wire. "Certainly we don't want to see (Sayin) get hurt, and we need him. At the same time, we'll come together and figure this out. We've got a good team."
He's right that it is a good team. It is still 6-1, still unbeaten in the league and still positioned for a deep playoff run. But in a season where the top of the sport keeps falling over, Ohio State just lost the one thing contenders cannot buy in October: a proven quarterback.
The sling came out in Bloomington. The plan came out three days later. Now Ohio State finds out whether 2014 was a miracle or a blueprint.
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