\n Age isn’t just a number, at least when it comes to the starting quarterback of a national championship team in college football. <\/p>\n
\n\tHaving an upperclassman quarterback seems to be a key to success, at least in terms of winning the national championship in the transfer portal era. Since 2019, every quarterback who\u2019s won the national championship has been in at least their third year of college football; all but one of them, with Michigan\u2019s J.J. McCarthy being the lone exception, has been in at least their fourth year of college football.\n<\/p>\n
\t\tAge of Quarterbacks to Win National Championship Since CFP Started<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tSEASON<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tQUARTERBACK<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tAGE<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tYEAR IN SCHOOL<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t2025<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tFERNANDO MENDOZA (INDIANA)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t22.29<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t4th<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t2024<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tWILL HOWARD (OHIO STATE)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t23.31<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t5th<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t2023<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tJ.J. MCCARTHY (MICHIGAN)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t20.97<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t3rd<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t2022<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tSTETSON BENNETT (GEORGIA)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t25.38<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t6th<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t2021<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tSTETSON BENNETT (GEORGIA)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t24.19<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t5th<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t2020<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tMAC JONES (ALABAMA)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t22.36<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t4th<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t2019<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tJOE BURROW (LSU)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t23.09<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t5th<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t2018<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tTREVOR LAWRENCE (CLEMSON)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t19.25<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t1st<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t2017<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tJALEN HURTS (ALABAMA)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t19.43<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t2nd<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tTUA TAGOVAILOA (ALABAMA)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t19.86<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t1st<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t2016<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tDESHAUN WATSON (CLEMSON)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t21.32<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t3rd<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t2015<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tJAKE COKER (ALABAMA)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t23.44<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t5th<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t2014<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tJ.T. BARRETT (OHIO STATE)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t19.97<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t2nd<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tCARDALE JONES (OHIO STATE)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t22.3<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t4th<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tAVERAGE<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t21.94<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t3.6<\/p>\n
\n\tIn 2024, Ohio State used a mix of portal signees paired with top-end recruiting classes to build its roster on its way to a national championship. The Buckeyes had young, in-house talent, a bunch of upperclassmen that returned for a chance to get a ring, and brought in players out of the portal to fill some of the holes on the two-deep. Most importantly,\u00a0Ryan Day and Co. brought in Will Howard, a fifth-year senior quarterback\u00a0who transferred to OSU from Kansas State, where he had already played in 34 games. His experience was a difference-maker, especially during Ohio State’s impressive four-game run through the CFP.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tFast forward to this season, and an older, experienced quarterback proved to be important yet again.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile Indiana\u00a0brought in a ton of talent over the last two years, leading to having one of the best wide receiver corps in the country and one of the best defenses in college football, Curt Cignetti and Co. handpicked their starting quarterback out of the portal as well. In 2024, it was sixth-year senior Kurtis Rourke, who spent his first five years at Ohio University. In 2025, it was Fernando Mendoza, who spent his first three years at California, the latter two of which were as the starting quarterback. Mendoza\u2019s experience played a crucial role in leading Indiana to the national championship, as he also won the Heisman Trophy along the way.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tIndiana was far from the only team that benefited from having a veteran quarterback\u00a0in the 2025-26 CFP. All four teams that made the CFP semifinals had upperclassman quarterbacks, including a sixth-year senior in Miami\u2019s Carson Beck and a fifth-year senior in Ole Miss\u2019 Trinidad Chambliss. The same was true in the 2024-25 CFP, when Howard was joined in the semifinals by two true seniors (Notre Dame\u2019s Riley Leonard and Texas\u2019 Quinn Ewers) and one junior (Penn State\u2019s Drew Allar).\n<\/p>\n
\n\tJulian Sayin was great in his first year as Ohio State\u2019s starting quarterback, there’s no doubt about that. He was a\u00a0Heisman Trophy finalist<\/a> who finished with the third-best completion percentage in a single season in college football history. You can’t ask for much more than that from a first-year starter. That said, at times when Ohio State needed him the most, Sayin wasn’t always at his best. While a lackluster offensive line performance in Ohio State’s last two games \u2013 both of which were losses \u2013 certainly played a part in that, it was evident that Sayin’s experience, or lack thereof, also played a role.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe good news is that the current redshirt freshman now has a season of experience as a starter and will be one year older in 2026. Come next season’s national championship game,\u00a0which is set for Jan. 25, 2027, as it somehow\u00a0continues to get later and later into January,\u00a0Sayin will be 21.5 years old. He\u2019ll still be younger than most of the quarterbacks who have won national championships in the last seven years, but not far off the average age of national championship-winning starting quarterbacks since the CFP debuted in 2014.\n<\/p>\n