One of the strangest stories of the Nebraska football season is how many opposing quarterbacks have gone down with injuries ahead of their game against the Huskers. The latest chapter came on Tuesday, when Ohio State announced that All-World signal caller Julian Sayin could miss the rest of the season.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day told the media that Sayin is "out indefinitely" with an elbow injury he sustained last weekend in a win over the Indiana Hoosiers, and the team is preparing for the possibility that he won't return this season. While Day didn't say the quarterback is out for the entire year, it sounds like he won't be back in time for the Buckeyes to take on the Cornhuskers on November 21.
Sayin suffered an injury to his throwing arm in the fourth quarter when Hoosiers defensive lineman Mario Landino hit him while he was taking a sack. True freshman QB Luke Fahey came in and completed the game for the Buckeyes. It's not clear yet if Fahey would be the guy who takes over long term if Sayin can't return.
Sayin joins a growing group of Big Ten starting quarterbacks who have missed or are expected to miss significant time this year. The Huskers ran across an Oregon team this past week that was without its opening-day starting quarterback, Dante Moore.
Nebraska football could face backup quarterbacks against Washington, Illinois and Ohio State
Nebraska's next game, on Halloween night against the Huskies has another quarterback question mark. Starting QB Demond Williams has been banged up, and backup Elijah Brown started in Washington's latest two games against Iowa and Purdue. Williams could use a bye week to recover, or Brown could start again.
After Washington comes Illinois, which is without starting quarterback Katin Houser. Like Sayin, there's no actual timeline for his return, though the Illini are hopeful he could be back within a month. Houser could be back for the Huskers, or NU will face an Illini backup with two games under his belt.
Rutgers is the only team on the rest of Nebraska's schedule with a starting quarterback ready to go this week. Dylan Lonergan missed a few weeks earlier this year with an injury, but he's back now and playing well.
After Ohio State and the Julian Sayin question, it's Iowa. Hank Brown has been the starter for most of the season, but he's been banged up, and Jeremy Hecklinski played very well against Washington in the Hawkeyes' last game.
Julian Sayin's injury is just another in what has been an odd story for Nebraska's opponents. It's also another open door to a much better record in 2026 than anyone could have seen coming before the fall. Now the Huskers just need to take care of it.
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