Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1032482
ready looks like the kind of guy who could get the larger-than-life treatment. De- pending on how long he decides to remain in Columbus, he could be the kind of guy who ends up with his name engraved on a wall at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Haskins is being hailed as a potential Heis- man Trophy candidate, and his career as a starter has only just begun. So it's not as if Meyer's concerns about ego inflation were coming out of nowhere. But the call that he made on the way home from his team's victory over the Green Wave was more of a precautionary measure than a manifestation of a genuine fear about Haskins' state of mind. "He's a very humble guy," Meyer said. "He's a very conscientious guy, comes from a great family. He's been great so far." Great so far is actually a bit of an under- statement. There had been speculation during the off-season that Ohio State's of- fense might be better this year, despite the loss of all-time Big Ten total offense leader J.T. Barrett. As the Big Ten season heats up, that speculation looks as though it was en- tirely justified. Through four games, Hask- ins is 10th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in passing yards with 1,194. He's second in completion percentage at 75.7 percent and third in passing efficiency with a 207.0 rat- ing. His 16 touchdown passes are second in the country, and he's only thrown one in- terception. Last week against Tulane, he threw five touchdown passes, all in the first half, and finished with 304 yards. And now he's Penn State's problem. The Nittany Lions know all about Haskins' po- tential because they tried recruiting him out of the Bullis School three years ago, hoping to add him to the Class of 2016. They signed one of his teammates that year, landing linebacker Cam Brown, and they al- ready had another Bullis alum on their roster in tight end Jonathan Holland. But Haskins had long been in- fatuated with the Buckeyes, and as James Franklin con- ceded earlier this week, "We probably weren't going to win that battle." So off he went to Ohio State, redshirting his first year, then backing up Barrett last season. Barrett's graduation set up a com- petition this past spring between Haskins and Joe Burrow, and it was close enough that the Buckeyes coaching staff still hadn't announced its choice as of early May. Burrow eventually made the choice for them by announcing that he was going to transfer. He ended up at LSU, where he won the starting job in preseason practice and has since helped the Tigers surge back into the national spotlight with the No. 5 rank- ing in this week's Associated Press poll. Obviously, things have worked out pretty well for the fourth-ranked Buckeyes, too. It's possible, of course, that there was no wrong choice, that if Burrow had stayed at Ohio State and started, he too would be thriving in an offense that is loaded at the skill positions and on the line, an offense that is being directed by one of college football's rising stars, coordinator Ryan Day. But regardless of the machinations that thrust him into the staring spot, Haskins is taking advantage in a big way. "I'm happy for him and the success that he's having," Franklin said. "It's probably an ideal situation for a first-time starter. The talent that he is surrounded with is S E P T E M B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 8 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2 Haskins has thrown 16 touchdown passes and only one interceptions in four games. Satur- day's visit to Penn State will be his first true road game as a starter, but he did lift the Buckeyes to a comeback victory at Michigan last season after J.T. Barrett was in- jured. Photo by Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog