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Ohio State and Ryan Day remember the greatest Buckeye quarterback of all time
On this, the third anniversary of his passing, Buckeye Nation is remembering the late great Dwayne Haskins.
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Ohio State and Ryan Day remember the greatest Buckeye quarterback of all time
On this, the third anniversary of his passing, Buckeye Nation is remembering the late great Dwayne Haskins.
Dwayne Haskins Jr. was one of my favorite Ohio State Buckeyes from the beginning. I was honored to be an usher at Ohio Stadium from 2016 to 2021. I can remember in 2016 watching the quarterbacks warm up for the games. J.T. Barrett, Joe Burrow, and Dwayne Haskins were fun to watch even when just casually slinging the rock to warm up for a game. Barrett was a living legend, and Burrow and Haskins would battle to replace him in 2017 or 2018.
Those two have been linked by that ever since. When the Buckeye offense struggled a bit in 2016 (before Ryan Day took over as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2017 and revamped them) fans would grumble about the backups. Despite not being insanely high recruits, Ohio State fans knew these two would be special. I was hopeful we'd get both of them to be starters before their time in Ohio ended. (Why not dream?)
But Haskins stood out. He had the strongest arm, and among that trio, that was saying something. Whenever they'd throw the deep passes in practice, #7's would always go the furthest. In 2017, Haskins came off the bench in The Game after J.T. Barrett re-tweaked his knee that had been run into by some Wolverine staffer with a camera coming out of the tunnel in Ann Arbor (by the way, where was Conor Stalions that day?).
When Ohio State trailed 20-14, he threw an absolute laser to Austin Mack for a huge first down and led Ohio State take the lead 21-20. He would help complete the 31-20 win and it was just a small preview of things to come.
In 2018, Dwayne Haskins and Ryan Day would rewrite the Ohio State record books and further prove that passing the ball was just as important and possible as running the ball at Ohio State. Ohio State would go 13-1 and win the Big Ten Championship and the Rose Bowl.
Luckily for the rest of the nation, they were snubbed out of the College Football Playoff, and Haskins out of the Heisman. If it had been 12 teams then, or if they'd been selected as they should've, Haskins would've given Urban Meyer his fourth national title.
Haskins would set the single-season Ohio State record for passing yards with 4,831, passing touchdowns with 50, and touchdowns responsible for (54) Both were Big Ten records. He'd throw for over 400 yards five times and five touchdowns or over five times. Haskins did all of this at Ohio State, which, for most of its first 100 years, has been known for their 'three yards and a cloud of dust' offenses. Haskins showed that Ohio State could be a pass-dominant offense when needed.
Ryan Day paid tribute to Haskins on this sad day for Buckeye Nation.
#7 set the Buckeye single-game record for passing yards at Ohio State and in the Big Ten Championship with 499 yards. He set the passing touchdowns in a game record with six against that team up north and five in the Big Ten Championship.
His absolute crushing of that team up north may be his crown jewel. Against the fourth-ranked team from Ann Arbor, Haskins was 20 of 31 for 396 yards and six touchdowns in Ohio State's 62-39 victory.
I could go on about this Buckeye legend, how he wanted to be Buckeye as a young kid, about his greatness, and his tragic passing before the age of 25. It suffices to say that Buckeye Nation loves and misses him. His family is in our thoughts, hearts, and prayers often and always will be. Dwayne Haskins Jr., gone too soon, but never forgotten.
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