Ad Disclosure
A look at Dwayne Haskins’ statistics on Saturday might indicate that Ohio State asked a lot of its young quarterback in his debut as a college starter. The sophomore was 22-of-30 passing for 313 yards and five touchdowns with one interception in a 77-31 victory against Oregon State at Ohio Stadium.
But a look at Haskins’ game, throw by throw, reveals that the Buckeyes coaches were smart and judicious in what they asked their young quarterback to do.
First off, Haskins signals a shift in QB philosophy from recent Buckeyes seasons. He only ran twice for 24 yards against Oregon State. Haskins possesses athleticism, but it’s clear already that he won’t beat teams with his feet the way J.T. Barrett, Braxton Miller and Terrelle Pryor did.
But Haskins demonstrated that he can roll out and throw on the move in either direction. In the first quarter he rolled left and hit Johnnie Dixon for a 10-yard completion. On his next throw, Haskins rolled right and hit tight end Rashod Berry on the run for a 6-yard touchdown:
Berry was open — actually, most Buckeye receivers were for much of the day — but this is the kind of basic throw which Haskins hit all day.
The first two passes Haskins threw in the game showed not only why the coaches are confident in his arm, but that they trust him early. His first completion was a 27-yarder to Terry McLaurin on a pass over the middle which went about 20 yards in the air. It was one of the deepest passes Haskins threw all day. His next throw, a 2-yarder to McLaurin on a slant, wasn’t complicated but it could have easily been incomplete or even intercepted had the timing not been right on a crossing route in the end zone:
Haskins started the game 8-for-8. Even his first incompletion was a decent incompletion, if there is such a thing. A high, deep toss to Parris Campbell was just over the receiver’s head near the end zone. But Haskins got good air under the throw and put it in a place where either Campbell was going to catch it or nobody was:
https://youtu.be/t1ZfVhhn_Yw?t=1778
But that was a rare time when Haskins aired it out on Saturday. Mostly he threw screens, slants, curls, dumpoffs and even a handful of shovel passes — two of which went for touchdowns. By my unofficial count, only five of Haskins’ passes traveled more than 15 yards in the air.
One of those mid-range passes led to Haskins’ lone interception. Facing pressure for one of the few times all day, he sailed a ball intended for Dixon and Oregon State’s Shawn Wilson picked it off at the goal line. It’s the one throw Haskins probably wishes he had back in the game. But his coaches and teammates likely will notice what happened next. During the return, the quarterback stayed in the play and knocked the ball loose from Wilson:
https://youtu.be/t1ZfVhhn_Yw?t=6416
The Beavers recovered the fumble but no matter. Haskins was willing to get his nose dirty seconds after throwing an interception. That’s the kind of play which will always earn the respect of the whole locker room in a hurry.
Ohio State’s offensive line mostly did a good job of keeping Haskins clean, and his receivers picked up a fair bit of yardage after catches, most notably an 8-yard slant to McLaurin which the receiver turned into a 75-yard touchdown catch. The whole offense was lethal to the tune of 721 yards, second-most in school history. But quarterbacks usually get most of the gridiron glory and the Big Ten duly named Haskins its offensive player of the week.
The sophomore gets his first taste of B1G action as a starter this week when Rutgers visits The Horseshoe. It will be interesting to see if the Scarlet Knights give Haskins any more of a test than the Beavers … or if Haskins and the OSU coaches will test them by showing Haskins’ deep passing ability a bit more.
Longtime newspaper veteran Jim Tomlin is a writer and editor for saturdaytradition.com and saturdaydownsouth.com.