Two games into Dwayne Haskins’ starting career at Ohio State, things could not be going much better.
Haskins followed his 5-touchdown starting debut with the most impressive 4-score performance this side of Gettysburg in the Buckeyes’ 52-3 win over Rutgers.
Playing through a steady rain, Haskins went 20-for-23 for 233 yards, connecting with senior wide receiver Johnnie Dixon on a pair of scores.
“Because it was raining outside, I had to be really good with ball placement. No turnovers, no fumbles anything like that,” Haskins said.
If Haskins was being cautious due to the weather, it didn’t show. He dropped an absolute dime to Dixon on a post route, hitting the receiver in stride just as he crossed the goal line for a 41-yard touchdown that opened the scoring.
Later in the first quarter, he hit Parris Campbell in the middle of the field for a 16-yard touchdown.
On the next drive, he found tight end Luke Farrell in the flat to make it 21-0.
After halftime, Haskins connected with Dixon again on an almost identical play to the first score. Dixon ran a post, got behind the Rutgers defender, and caught the ball in stride just before crossing into the end zone.
Haskins said those routes were something the Buckeyes identified during film study during the week.
“We’ve seen a lot of quarters (coverage from Rutgers on) film, so we were trying to plan up some post routes today,” Haskins said. “Seeing Johnnie get open like that, it’s a lot of fun for me. Basically he’s wide open for me from that perspective.”
That film study is one example of what Haskins is doing during the week to make sure he’s ready for Saturday.
“Probably the biggest adjustment is just being prepared every day as the guy and just going into practice, going into meetings,” he said. “(Quarterbacks coach Ryan) Day has done a great job preparing me for that. That’s probably the biggest adjustment for me.”
Day said that he has seen Haskins’ hard work, and the results of it, firsthand.
“Growing every practice, every game. And building as we go. It’s not going to be perfect. We know that. Trying to prepare every week for the game and get everybody off to a good start,” said Day.
So far, it sounds like Haskins’ main complaint is that the Buckeyes are scoring too much, too quickly, leaving him on the bench as OSU runs out the clock.
“I want to run so many series, so many plays that we ran out of time, and up so many points we can’t do what we want. But it’s like every series there’s opportunity to go score,” he said.
Haskins and the Buckeyes have made the most of those opportunities to score. Through two games, he has thrown for nine touchdowns against just one interception.
It’s worth noting that he hasn’t faced great competition. The Buckeyes and their fans will learn a lot more about their new quarterback next Saturday against TCU.
But if Dwayne Haskins was going to live up to all of the considerable hype, this is a lot like what it would look like.
Credit to the line, he has had lots of time to throw the ball. If that continues this might be the most enjoyable season since Zeke left.
I’m very impressed with Haskins so far. That was a nearly flawless performance even given the level of competition. He’s taking care of business. It’s a great environment for breaking in as will be a road trip to Arlington with its hype and distractions. It’s going to be fun watching him and Martell against TCU.
I’m waiting to see what he can do against very good teams and defenses.
If the line protects, receivers get open, Dwayne will make the same throws. We are just seeing the beginning of his career after 2 starts.
One mistake in the well written story – not 9 touchdowns and zero interceptions as there was one interception last week!
You’re right – corrected now. Thanks.