Unfinished business: How Garrett Wilson and Matthew Baldwin found their way to Ohio State
In his first season as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State, Ryan Day led the Buckeyes to the No. 1 scoring offense and the No. 1 total offense in the Big Ten. The majority of this success came from the ground game, which averaged 243.2 yards per game and 5.8 yards per carry.
Even with the success, running quarterback J.T. Barrett and the combination of J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber, this was not the offense Day wanted to run. It was also not the offense he pitched to five-star wide receiver Garrett Wilson when he visited Austin, Texas.
Day told Wilson he envisioned an Ohio State offense that utilizes its passing game a lot more, one that would use a receiver like Wilson immediately upon arrival.
“Coach Day knew what I wanted in a school, and he pitched that to me,” Wilson said. “He wasn’t lying about it.”
With quarterback Dwayne Haskins at the helm, Ohio State held the No. 2 pass offense in the country, averaging 364.3 yards per game while throwing 51 touchdown passes, 23 more than any other team in the Big Ten.
“Seeing it actually happen, you know, that was even more important,” Wilson said. “I just wanted to see it happen, and once it did, I was excited to play in a couple of years.”
This kind of passing game was what Wilson was used to at Lake Travis High School. It is the passing game in which his quarterback, Matthew Baldwin, thrived.
The stories of Wilson and Baldwin could not be more different.
Lake Travis head coach Hank Carter remembers the first time he ever saw Wilson play. The wide receiver was in sixth grade in a seven-on-seven game.
“[Wilson] caught a touchdown pass and went up and dunked it over the goalpost on our practice field,” Carter said. “To say that I was surprised to see a sixth grader do that would be an understatement.”
To many, Wilson was the future college star, showcasing athleticism, either on the football field or the basketball court, and an ability that allowed him to choose where his future would take him.
Baldwin, on the other hand, had to wait his turn.
While Wilson started at wide receiver during his sophomore season with the Cavaliers, Baldwin sat behind Charlie Brewer, the future starting quarterback at Baylor, waiting until his senior season, his only season as a starting quarterback.
“No one really knew him,” Thomas Jones, community sports editor at the Austin American Statesman, said. “He wasn’t on anyone’s recruiting radar.”
Baldwin came into his senior season with one Division I offer: Colorado State, which he committed to on July 14, 2017.
But as he went through his senior season, completing 71.8 percent of his passes for 3,842 yards with 44 touchdowns and six interceptions, Baldwin showcased a pure passing ability that interested Day and Ohio State, as well as many other programs around the country, Carter said.
To the Lake Travis head coach, who had known and coached Baldwin since third grade, this was not something he was surprised by.
“Matthew can make every throw,” Carter said. “Matthew Baldwin has an NFL arm right now. There are guys in the NFL that don’t throw it any better than Matthew.”
Wilson said Baldwin was everything he wanted in a quarterback, with a “cannon” for an arm and a knowledge of the responsibilities for each member of the offense.
Baldwin also took advantage of Wilson’s athleticism. If he saw Wilson was in single coverage during his junior season, Baldwin would target Wilson every time, Jones said.
“I think that obviously Garrett loves the fact that Matthew will be able to put the ball wherever he wanted to and could stretch the field to him,” Carter said.
With Baldwin at quarterback during the 2017 season, Wilson recorded 96 catches for 1,764 yards, catching a career-high 26 of Baldwin’s 44 touchdown passes.
“He’s the most talented receiver I have ever seen,” Carter said. “I’ve never seen a high school player with the catch radius.”
Entire article:
https://www.thelantern.com/2019/02/...atthew-baldwin-found-their-way-to-ohio-state/