Ohio State’s aerial show
Haskins pumps up Buckeyes’ offense
When Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins was a prep standout at Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland, coaches concluded his talent was too special to overuse.
“He was amazing, to be honest,” Bullis coach Pat Cilento told USA TODAY. “We didn’t use him as much as some other people used their quarterbacks because we didn’t want him being injured.”
The Buckeyes also aren’t overusing Haskins, but for a different reason. With 16 touchdown passes in his first four starts as Ohio State’s quarterback, the sophomore has been such a dominant force that it didn’t need him to take every offensive snap in a 4-0 start.
Haskins undoubtedly will be on the field for the full game Saturday when the No. 4 Buckeyes meet No. 9 Penn State in Happy Valley. (7:30 ET, ABC).
“(The Buckeyes) are obviously different when it comes to the passing game (this season),” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “Before they were a quarterback run-oriented offense. Now (Haskins) is able to distribute the ball, to get the ball to the playmakers.”
The USA TODAY Network Heisman Trophy survey has Haskins second behind Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Although Haskins has already faced ranked TCU, the Nittany Lions present Haskins with the biggest test of his young college career.
“He’s a very poised quarterback,” Tulane coach Willie Fritz said after Haskins threw five touchdown passes in the first half against his team. “Watching him on tape you would have thought he is a third-year starter. He handles things really well.”
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer has carefully chosen his words about Haskins, presumably because it’s early in Haskins’ career
“He’s getting command of everything, and players are just responding to him,” Meyer said.
To put Haskins’ start into perspective, consider that after four games as a starter he now is tied for third on the school’s all-time list with three passing games of 300 or more yards. Haskins’ 16 TD passes in four games is the secondbest start by a Big Ten quarterback, trailing only former Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton’s 17 TD passes in 2004. Haskins has completed 75.6 percent of his passes (87-for-115) and had only one interception.
“His management of the offense, that’s where he has done a great job,” Meyer said.
None of this is surprising to Cilento. He remembers seeing Haskins throw in the summer between his eighth- and ninth-grade seasons.
“He was unbelievable,” Cilento said. “You saw the ball jump out of his hands.”
Cilento said Haskins showed composure and focus even at a young age.
“He can make every throw, and he’s relentless in the classroom and film room,” Cilento said. “He works to perfect his craft.”
The poise is natural. Cilento remembers that Haskins was unfazed by the fact he had more than 40 scholarship offers.
“We have six kids now in the Big Ten and five in the ACC,” Cilento said. “He handled the recruiting process the best out of all of them.”
Based on his experience with Haskins, Cilento would expect him to rise up in an important game such as Saturday’s.
“In his last game in his senior year (against Georgetown Prep), we decided we were going to run him a little bit, and he twisted his ankle,” Cilento said. “He came back in the second quarter basically on one foot. We were down by five with a minute to go, and he threw an unbelievable pass, between two defenders, with perfect touch and changed the field for us. We went down and he threw a touchdown pass to win the game.”