Carlsbad football had a good weekend. On Friday night, the Carlsbad High offense was nearly unstoppable, piling up 48 points on Oceanside to move to 2-0.
Just 12 hours later, 2,200 miles across the country, former Lancer star Julian Sayin — the top quarterback prospect in the Class of 2024 — made his first college start, helping No. 3 Ohio State topple No. 1 Texas at the Horseshoe in Columbus.
In a defensive slugfest, where yards and points were as painstaking as Shackleton traversing the Weddell Sea ice, Sayin was workmanlike, going 13-of-20 for 126 yards. The highlight came early in the fourth quarter, when he connected with receiver Carnell Tate on a 40-yard touchdown pass, sealing a 14-7 Ohio State victory.
Sayin spent much of the game managing the offense, but flashes of his playmaking echoed his days at Swede Krcmar. Late in the first half, backed up in his own end zone on a key third down, the Buckeyes’ sophomore playcaller rolled right under heavy pressure, took a hit, and delivered a precise throw to convert the first down.
“You’re the quarterback at Ohio State playing No. 1 Texas against one of the top defenses in the country,” OSU head coach Ryan Day said after the game. “We didn’t want to put him in a bad spot, which wouldn’t have been fair. Now, coming out of it, he probably could have handled more.”
“I think he played a great game for his first start,” cornerback Jermaine Matthews added. “He managed the game, was very poised, and showed he was ready for this moment.”
With 107,524 fans in the stands — the 12th-largest crowd in Ohio Stadium history — and Texas quarterback Arch Manning, shouldering the weight of his famous last name, on the other sideline, the opener ratcheted up in intensity.
“[The fans] lived up to their hype and made it tough on the Texas offense,” Sayin said.
Sayin became the first player since Jim Harbaugh in 1984 to win his first college start against the nation’s No. 1 team. Forty-one years ago, Harbaugh posted a similar stat line, completing 11 of 21 passes for 165 yards — the difference: Harbaugh turned the ball over twice.
Guided by now Pittsburgh Steelers rookie quarterback Will Howard, the Buckeyes went 14-2 in 2024, capturing the College Football Playoff National Championship with a 34-23 victory over Notre Dame. As a freshman, Sayin appeared in four games in mop-up duty, completing 5 of 12 passes, including a 55-yard touchdown to tight end Bennett Christian.
A native of Solana Beach, Sayin led the Lancers to a 30-3 record as a three-year starter. During his freshman season, he held the clipboard for his older brother, Aidan, now the starting quarterback at Penn. Sayin was named Avocado League Offensive MVP three consecutive seasons and took home the 2023 Gatorade California Player of the Year. He also achieved Elite 11 Finals MVP honors as a junior.
Over the course of his high school career, he threw for 7,970 yards and 86 touchdowns, earning five-star recruit status, and initially committed to Alabama before transferring to Ohio State in the spring of 2024, following the retirement of longtime Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban.
Next up, Ohio State hosts Grambling State on September 6, while the Lancers look to extend their hot start as they travel to El Camino on Friday night.
Carlsbad brought back six offensive and eight defensive starters from last year’s San Diego Section Division I semifinalist squad, with another slightly undersized but accurate thrower at quarterback: Eli MacNeal, a Cornell commit.
“Our team does not have one single MVP, but many that are very good. We have strong players across every position on both sides of the ball,” said junior tight end Trent Kellas, who caught a touchdown against Oceanside.
