COLUMBUS, Ohio — Before the California sunrise during the pandemic, Julian Sayin and older brother Aidan were already at Pine Park in downtown Carlsbad, chasing the perfect throw with an acai bowl on the line.
After drilling mechanics, dropbacks and movement throws with passing coach Jose Mohler at the park about 35 miles north of San Diego, the real competition began — a homegrown version of quarterback HORSE. Their buddies, twins Jayven and Kiran Sandhu, ran routes while the Sayin brothers called their shots, grading each other’s 10 throws. The loser picked up the tab at the smoothie shop around the corner before everyone headed home for online high school.
“We would grade very, very harshly,” said Aidan, who went on to become a record-breaking quarterback at Penn. “Anything that wasn’t on the face wasn’t worthy of even a B-plus. You had to be super accurate.”
All those morning sessions in 2020 — when school was remote and the football season was pushed to spring — became the foundation for Julian’s precision passing, the trait that has propelled him to Heisman contention in his first season as Ohio State’s starting quarterback.
“My brother, it was awesome to have him growing up as a mentor, then someone who I was competing with every day,” Julian said. “I was trying to be better than him, so it was a lot of fun going to quarterback workouts with him — and we grew up a lot [as passers] during that time.”
Having led the top-ranked Buckeyes to an undefeated regular season, Julian is on the verge of breaking the FBS single-season completion percentage record. Heading into Saturday’s Big Ten championship clash against No. 2 Indiana, he’s completing 78.9% of his passes — on pace to surpass the 77.5% mark set two years ago by Bo Nix.
After torching Michigan for three touchdowns Saturday, Julian leads the country with a QBR of 91.4. Should he outduel Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza, a fellow Heisman front-runner, Julian could become Ohio State’s first Heisman winner since Troy Smith in 2006.
“He sees it. The ball comes out quick. The guys believe in him,” said Buckeyes coach Ryan Day. “And he has a special talent of putting the ball on time with accuracy.”
Mohler, a former FCS quarterback, met the Sayin boys through his brother-in-law, who coached Aidan’s Pop Warner football team. Mohler asked if he could call the offense, and later Aidan became his first client. Whenever Aidan and Mohler worked on passing, Julian, then just a fifth grader, would often tag along.
“Julian always wanted to compete with his older brother,” Mohler said, “and show he was valid compared to where his brother was.”
In 2020, Aidan was set to be a senior at Carlsbad High and Julian a freshman, their first season together. But when COVID-19 put that on hold, the brothers turned to the park less than a mile from their house — where putting every pass on the money became a daily obsession.
“Pine Park was a lab,” said Jayven Sandhu, now a student at Utah. “And we all got better there.”
After conditioning in the early-morning dark, the Sayins and Sandhus went through their passing routine with Mohler. Then, the drama began.
The Sayins would take turns calling out a route. Every throw had to have the right zip, the right loft and, of course, the perfect placement.
“They would just start bickering at each other,” Mohler said. “They were so opinionated towards the process, which was awesome. They just wanted to beat one another — and it would definitely get a little bit out of hand at times.”
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Julian admits his older brother remains the only person able to get under his skin, which Aidan relishes. He would knock the ball out of Julian’s hand on a dropback or tip away any slightly errant pass. Sometimes Julian responded by pelting Aidan with a throw to the leg.
“It would get pretty hot at times,” said Kiran Sandhu, now an Illinois student.
But Julian never backed down.
“I was always enamored with Julian’s ‘OK, watch this’ mentality,” Mohler said. “‘Hey, you’re going to want to film this because of what I’m going to do this time.’ … He might appear laid back, but when it comes to putting the ball where it needs to be, that dude is rich with confidence.”
After online school, the brothers cooled off with the Sandhus and other friends at a secluded spot of Tamarack Beach off Cherry Avenue, just a half mile from their house, where they swam, played spike ball and rode boogie boards. On the way home, they often swung by In-N-Out Burger or their favorite local burrito joint. Then at night, they were back to competing, squaring off in video game football. Sitting next to one another on a toy chest, Aidan nudged Julian’s shoulder anytime he made a big play. Julian confessed that he once got so mad he shoved Aidan into a dresser, cutting his leg open.
“We had such a blast,” Aidan said. “We didn’t know if we were going to have a season, but we definitely took advantage of that time — we didn’t just sit around. … And both me and him developed the most then and got so much better just training together every day.”
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By winter, the brothers returned to school in person. But they still kept going to Pine Park in the early mornings. By then, the two rarely made an inaccurate throw. If they were still tied after the 10 passes, they would take turns tossing fade balls until one of them finally prevailed.
“They were putting the ball wherever they wanted to,” Mohler said. “So that whole year was very impactful for both of them.”
In the spring, Carlsbad had an abbreviated five-game season, obliterating all five opponents. Aidan played the first half of games, and Julian mopped up in the second.
“Julian could’ve easily been our starter then,” said Carlsbad coach Thadd MacNeal. “But his brother was a great player in his own right.”
Aidan moved on to Penn, where he started four seasons and broke the school’s career completions record. He was on track to break other records but suffered a season-ending elbow injury after taking a hit while attempting a throw during the sixth game of his senior year.
As a high school sophomore, Julian took over for Aidan as the starter at Carlsbad — and became the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the country.
“His natural ability is off the charts, but his mechanics were so consistent,” said MacNeal, who’s sent 18 quarterbacks to the college level. “With QBs, you’re going to have different arm angles, you’re going to have to layer throws, but can you put it where you want to? On third down, when you have to make a completion, can you hit the spot? Julian has been able to do that since I saw him as a freshman. He’s going to find his target, he’s going to process fast — and he’s usually not going to miss.”
Will Howard found that out immediately when Julian arrived at Ohio State. Howard transferred in after four years as Kansas State’s starting quarterback, two weeks before Julian joined him from Alabama after coach Nick Saban’s retirement.
“I had never really seen a ball come out of a dude’s hand that easily and that effortlessly,” Howard said. “I was like, ‘Geez, is this kid going to give me a run for my money here?’ He was throwing the s— out of the ball.”
Howard still won the starting job and quarterbacked the Buckeyes to the national championship, while setting a new school record by completing 71.4% of his passes. But Howard, now with the Pittsburgh Steelers, quickly realized his record wouldn’t stand long.
“I was like, ‘Damn, I wanted that for more than one year,'” Howard said. “But Julian’s doing a hell of a job.”
At the Big House last weekend, Julian threw an interception on his second attempt, which helped give Michigan an early 6-0 lead.
But, like he usually did facing off against his brother at Pine Park, Julian bounced back in his first game ever in the snow. He completed 19 of his next 24 throws for 233 yards and three touchdowns, as the Buckeyes emphatically snapped their four-game losing streak in the rivalry with a 27-9 victory.
“The way he played from there on was special to me,” Day said.
It was also a special sight for Aidan, who made the trip to Ann Arbor with their parents, sister and Mohler. Julian’s performance reminded Aidan of how his younger brother would always respond during those Pine Park mornings.
“Super resilient,” Aidan said. “He had the mindset of, they got me, but that’s not going to affect the next play. I’m coming right back at them.”
Back in Columbus, Aidan and Mohler waited in Julian’s apartment for him to get home. They rewatched some of the game, breaking down throws, just like they did together five years ago. The following morning, they all went to breakfast, where Julian celebrated his first Michigan victory with eggs — and an acai bowl.
