PENN STATE PREPARING FOR DIFFERENT CHALLENGE FROM DWAYNE HASKINS, OHIO STATE'S OFFENSE THIS YEAR
As Dwayne Haskins has completed more than 75 percent of his passing attempts for 1,194 yards and 16 touchdowns in his first four games as Ohio State’s starting quarterback, emerging as a likely future first-round NFL draft pick in the process, he’s reignited the debate – a debate that was held among the Buckeyes’ fan base for nearly all of last season – over whether he should have been the starting quarterback last year instead of J.T. Barrett.
For one game last season, however, Barrett silenced his doubters.
That game came against Penn State, when Barrett had what could be considered the best game of his Ohio State career – and one of the greatest single-game performances in the Buckeyes’ rivalry with the Nittany Lions – when he completed 33-of-39 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns, including his final 16 throws of the game, while also rushing for 95 yards on 17 carries in leading the Buckeyes to a fourth-quarter comeback and 39-38 victory at Ohio Stadium.
On that night, Barrett clearly got the best of the Penn State defense, and was able to carry the Buckeyes to their signature win of the 2017 season, solidifying his place in Ohio State lore despite the external criticism that his play often received.
There’s certainly a case to be made now, though, that Haskins is better than Barrett – at least as a pure passer – and even though Barrett picked apart the Nittany Lions’ defense last year, some Penn State defensive players said this week that they believe Haskins has elevated Ohio State’s passing game to another level.
“I think the guy’s just playing with confidence right now, and that’s dangerous when a guy’s playing with confidence,” said Penn State cornerback Amani Oruwariye. “And the difference between him and J.T. Barrett, I just think that his arm is just a little bit better, a little bit stronger and I guess he’s making smarter decisions with the ball right now.”
Penn State coach James Franklin, who attempted to recruit Haskins to become a Nittany Lion out of high school, also had considerable praise for Ohio State’s new starting quarterback this week and the challenges he will present to the Nittany Lions defense.
"He's able to make you account for all 53 1/3 (width of the field in yards) because of his arm strength and because of the athleticism that they have,” Franklin said of Haskins. “That helps their running game. That helps their passing game, that he's able to really distribute the ball to so many weapons that they've been able to recruit and develop.”
The trade-off with what Haskins brings to Ohio State’s offense as a passer is that he isn’t nearly as much of a runner. While Barrett ran the ball 17 times in last year’s game against Penn State, Haskins has only 10 rushing attempts for the Buckeyes’ entire season.
Penn State’s defenders have noticed that difference, and that’s changed the way they’ve prepared to face Ohio State’s offense, too.
“He’s not as mobile as J.T. and Braxton (Miller), and I think that is a little different from what we’ve been used to seeing these past couple years, and I think it has changed their offense, and how they attack defenses a little bit differently,” Penn State safety Garrett Taylor said.
In terms of overall scheme, however, the Nittany Lions say they have seen many of the same concepts on film from Ohio State’s offense that they saw last year, so while the change from Barrett to Haskins has given them a different kind of threat to prepare for from the quarterback position, they’re still expecting to see some of the same plays from the Buckeyes that they’ve seen in the past.
“I think for the most part, it’s a lot of the same stuff,” Taylor said. “You still have a lot of the same guys on the outside with (Parris) Campbell, (Johnnie) Dixon, (Terry) McLaurin at receiver; you still have (J.K.) Dobbins and (Mike) Weber at running back. And they still have some of the same run concepts in there. You just don’t see Haskins pulling it as much as J.T. or Braxton would.”
Entire article:
https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...-dwayne-haskins-ohio-states-offense-this-year
