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SEVEN(TH) HEAVEN
Dwayne Haskins might be good.
With the disclaimer Ohio State has faced garbage teams, Haskins has been nothing short of spectacular. After carving up Oregon State in the opener, it was more of the same yesterday as Haskins completed 20 of 23 throws for 233 yards and four touchdowns. His 86.9% completion rate versus Rutgers ranks as the third-best single-game effort in school history.
Through two games, Haskins is 42 of 53 for 546 yards and nine touchdowns against one interception.
That's a ridiculous 79.2% completion rate and it seems pretty good that his touchdowns (9) are only two short of his incompletions (11).
Within that completion rate is a deadly accuracy in which his throws are consistently hitting guys in stride, aiding in yards after catch, and he's been a beast on third down hitting on 11 of 12 throws for 106 yards and 10 first downs with one interception.
No question he's been outstanding but I'm really interested to see what he can do in the face of more consistent pressure which should come next weekend in Arlington. I'm confident he'll stand tall based on the limited sample size we witnessed last year but seeing is believing. It's time for Haskins, his offensive line and receiving corps to pass a stiffer test.
Dwayne Haskins has thrived in a clean pocket during Ohio State's 2-0 start.
STUPID SEXY LANDERS
Welp, my man crush on Robert Landers took another step toward being illegal after he quietly dominated the interior of Rutgers' offensive line.
Tasked with manning the middle and tying up as many blockers as possible, Landers relishes the role and turned in a dominant performance yesterday with three stops and a TFL.
His TFL went for -3 yards and his other two tackles held Rutgers ball carriers to one yard each but he was a much bigger factor than those stats indicate.
Numerous times in the first half he was so quick off the ball that the center and guard were pushed into the backfield, disrupting the flow and timing of the play. His efforts were a key reason why the Scarlet Knights recorded just seven yards rushing on 0.5 per carry in the opening half.
Landers won't get the publicity he deserves due to the ask of his position and playing alongside superstars like Nick Bosa, Dre'Mont Jones and Chase Young so I'll do my best to give him his propers in this column throughout the season.
AIN'T WASTING NO MORE TIME
Getting back to Haskins real quick, it's pretty wild just how fast he's leading the team to touchdowns.
Through two games, Haskins has led the Buckeye offense on 13 touchdown drives – eight against Oregon State and five against Rutgers.
Of those 13 drives, 10 have taken less then three minutes to find the end zone with an overall average of 2:36 needed to break the plane. Only four of the 13 drives needed 10 or more plays.
Just two of the touchdown drives have eclipsed the four minute mark. Haskins' last touchdown march against the Beavers took 6:00 flat as the Buckeyes churned out 79 yards on 11 plays capped by a Mike Weber 4-yard run. Then today, it took 4:26 for Haskins to lead the squad on a 13-play, 71-yard march finished by a 9-yard toss to Luke Farrell.
Obviously, the pace of playcalling and effectiveness of the total offense play a role but the triggerman deserves a ton of credit.
The particulars:
| NO. | ELAPSED TIME | PLAYS / YARDS | TOUCHDOWN PLAY |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:13 | 5 / 57 | HASKINS 2-YARD PASS TO MCLAURIN |
| 2 | 2:15 | 8 / 65 | WEBER 16-YARD RUN |
| 3 | 2:04 | 8 / 75 | HASKINS 6-YARD PASS TO BERRY |
| 4 | 1:56 | 6 / 75 | WEBER 49-YARD RUN |
| 5 | 2:53 | 10 / 59 | HASKINS 3-YARD PASS TO WEBER |
| 6 | 0:15 | 1 / 75 | HASKINS 75-YARD PASS TO MCLAURIN |
| 7 | 2:31 | 10 / 75 | HASKINS 8-YARD PASS TO CAMPBELL |
| 8 | 6:00 | 11 / 79 | WEBER 4-YARD RUN |
| 9 | 1:51 | 5 / 67 | HASKINS 38-YARD PASS TO DIXON |
| 10 | 2:37 | 7 / 50 | HASKINS 16-YARD PASS TO CAMPBELL |
| 11 | 4:26 | 13 / 71 | HASKINS 9-YARD PASS TO FARRELL |
| 12 | 3:41 | 9 / 76 | DOBBINS 2-YARD RUN |
| 13 | 2:11 | 5 / 84 | HASKINS 44-YARD PASS TO DIXON |
Seems good.
Nick Bosa locks in on Rutgers quarterback Artur Sitkowski.
NICK THE QUICK
Nick Bosa was unblockable against Oregon State posting three tackles, two TFL, two sacks and two fumble recoveries with one of those going for a touchdown.
Leading up to this week's tilt with Rutgers, Scarlet Knights left tackle Tariq Cole, a pro prospect in his own right, made it a point to note Bosa had never recorded a sack against him, for reasons I've yet to comprehend.
In the latest episode of When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong, Cole did allow a sack against Bosa as Nick posted five stops and tied a career-high with 3.0 TFL including that sack and a quarterback hurry while breaking Rutgers signal-caller Artur Sitkowski.
Through two games, Bosa has eight tackles, five TFL, three sacks, two fumble recoveries, a quarterback hurry and a touchdown.
With Chase Young really starting to blossom at the opposite defensive end spot and Dre'mont Jones and Landers holding down the interior, Bosa should continue to put up numbers worthy of a top-five NFL draft pick.
GET OUT THE WADE
A week after Isaiah Pryor and Jahsen Wint struggled in trying to replace an injured Jordan Fuller and departed Damon Webb at the safety spots, Greg Schiano hinted that we might see more of redshirt freshman Shaun Wade in Ohio State's secondary at a handful of positions.
In rotational duty - mostly at cornerback in the nickel, Wade was a factor yesterday posting two solo stops, a PBU and his first career interception.
Wade gave up a pair of completions in coverage, one a 2-yard pass on 3rd-and-6 and the other a 13-yarder on 3rd-and-9 and his textbook PBU came on a 3rd-and-10 throw.
In a limited sample size, it could certainly be argued Wade is one of Ohio State's five best defensive backs so I would expect him to see even more time next weekend against the Horned Frogs. Sign me up.
10 Things From Rutgers Game
1. These receivers can catch the football.
Watching the receivers before the game, I saw them dropping some passes in warmups. The rain was constant and so I figured that the drops would continue during the game, especially with the velocity with which Dwayne Haskins throws the ball. Last week, there were a few passes over the middle where the receivers snagged the back half of the football. In this game, I assumed those would be skipping off of the hands of the receivers and becoming possible interceptions for the safeties behind them. That didn’t happen. Instead, the receivers (and running backs and tight ends) caught 30 of the 33 passes thrown their way, and that is pretty darn remarkable.
2. More Shaun Wade is a good thing.
If you were surprised that Shaun Wade had an interception this week, then you haven’t been paying attention. Even though he only had one game under his belt coming into Saturday, he is a natural playmaker when the ball is in the air. He has steadily improved in practice, and so the decision was made to give him the nickel back job. The decision clearly paid off. Wade’s inclusion into the defense has essentially made this a four cornerback rotation now, which is pretty insane.
3. Strong safety still isn’t settled, but it’s settling.
With Jordan Fuller back in the lineup at free safety, Isaiah Pryor was able to move back to strong safety, which is where most of his practice time was spent during spring and fall camp. He responded well and finished with three tackles, but more importantly there weren’t any glaring assignment breakdowns or missed tackles like last week. Greg Schiano said last week that Pryor and Jahsen Wint were still competing for the job, and Wint also played in the first half. Despite the rotation, this is looking more and more like Pryor’s job. We’ll find out more next week against some very talented TCU receivers, however.
4. Jordan Fuller is a difference maker.
You can’t lose your best players in the secondary and not have it affect you, as the Buckeyes saw last week without Jordan Fuller. Yesterday, Fuller was back on the field and the biggest play the Ohio State defense gave up was 15 yards. Greg Schiano said after the game that having Fuller back was huge, especially with the way Rutgers shifts and motions. Fuller kept everybody in the secondary calm and under control before the snap, and that is exactly how they played afterthe snap.
5. The linebackers were better.
Maybe it was because Rutgers didn’t have the skill players that Oregon State did, but I thought the linebackers improved from last week. As with the safeties, there were no glaring mistakes leading to home runs. Still, the Ohio State starting linebackers combined for just six tackles. A lot of that is because there were five three-and-outs in the first half, but in 31-odd plays in the first half, you’d think the linebackers would have more than just six tackles.
6. Dwayne Haskins is one of the favorites for the September Heisman.
Dwayne Haskins is third in the nation in completion percentage (79.2), second in touchdown passes (9), and fourth in passer rating (218.06). He leads the Big Ten in all of those categories as well, and his passer rating is 50 points higher than the guy in second place (Alex Hornibrook, Wisconsin). Haskins has looked as good as people have hoped, and because of it he is one of a few September Heisman favorites. With voting set to conclude in three weeks, Haskins will need to avoid the dreaded late-September fade from glory that has stricken so many other early favorites over the years.
7. Chase Young needs to chill, but just a tad.
Chase Young received two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on Saturday. The first came when he spiked the football after a sack (which should have been called a strip sack, as you can see in the photo below because the ball is no longer in Artur Sitkowski’s hand), and the second came after Shaun Wade’s interception when he left the sideline to celebrate a great play by his teammate. After the game, Greg Schiano said he loves Young’s “emotion” and “fever”, but added that they have to make sure it doesn’t happen again because next time it could happen in a close game. He chalked it up to Young being a young player, but they will address it.
8. Tate Martell is very comfortable and having fun.
Tate Martell completed a school-record 10-of-10 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 95 yards on eight carries against Rutgers. Those are pretty amazing statistics and they wouldn’t have been possible if Martell wasn’t completely comfortable in his role. Not only is he comfortable in what he is being asked to do, he knows how to do it. He said after the game that he knows all of the protections, all of the checks, and everything else required of him. You could see that during the game when he was pointing things out to the offensive line and changing plays around. His role when the games get tougher may diminish, but it’s not like he hasn’t earned at least some benefit of the doubt moving forward.
9. The efficiency of this offense is amazing so far.
The Buckeyes were 9-of-14 on third downs against Rutgers, but even on first and second down this offense is getting big chunks. No situation so far has seemed daunting. In fact, when the Buckeyes do punt with the first-team offense, it feels like a play call mistake on third down made it happen. Even with the running game not being a brute yesterday, the offense kept moving. It wasn’t balanced numbers-wise, but what Urban Meyer and Ryan Day have always said is that true balance for an offense means that you can move the ball any way and any time, and that’s what Dwayne Haskins has allowed this team to do.
10. Everything we’ve seen so far could be meaningless.
The offense has been great and the defense made vast improvements yesterday. But Oregon State and Rutgers may not even combine to get six wins to be bowl eligible. The passing game and Dwayne Haskins look dynamic, but they haven’t faced a defense capable of defending yet. TCU will be a much better test and we’ll see on Saturday how prepared Haskins will be. Defensively for Ohio State, they played better this week, but they were facing a freshman quarterback and then a quarterback who was beaten out by a freshman quarterback. This will be the first real test for the OSU secondary. Horned Frogs quarterback Shawn Robinson has been okay this season, but is capable of some iffy passes. He is also able to run the ball and keep plays alive. Can the Buckeye secondary remain disciplined? TCU will have trouble with Ohio State’s defensive line, which may see Robinson choosing to run the ball early in his progressions. With OSU’s man defense, they may have their backs turned to Robinson, which will allow decent gains on scrambles. That will also put pressure on linebackers to make tackles in the open field, which will be a test for them as well. It should be fun. We’re all looking forward to it. See you in Dallas.
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