Ohio State Football: Another positive game for Haskins despite challenges

The Ohio State football team struggled at times against TCU but quarterback Dwayne Haskins came through with a clutch performance.

Dwayne Haskins appeared to struggle at times against TCU, but the 40-28 victory stands as further evidence of the talent on the Ohio State football team. It also proved that Haskins can remain poised through adversity.

He completed just 63 percent of his passes, but that includes a number of drops by his receivers. He also received low snaps from center all night.

Despite that, he put up respectable numbers. His trusty pass accuracy downfield and patience were reflected on two key throws.

The first was to Austin Mack. Haskins used his time in the pocket to wait for Mack to get downfield and delivered a ball directly into the receiver’s hands over the top of double coverage.

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The second was a touchdown pass to K.J. Hill. Haskins again took his time, even with a defender’s hands in his face, and delivered a ball that appeared to be somewhat under thrown. The thing that was important was the ball was thrown away from the reach of the defender where only Hill could make a play on it.

The young quarterback bagged six points with his feet as well. After struggling to score in the red zone most of the night by air, he took the ball on a  read option and followed a blocker to the goal line.

Haskins’ night wasn’t perfect, he struggled at times coping with pressure. TCU attacked the offensive line with heavy A and B gap blitzes, which is something Interim Coach Day countered with J.K. Dobbins’ ability to make reads at the line of scrimmage.

Dobbins’ success running downhill in the game gave Haskins’ the safety net he needed. If the passes weren’t there, he could fall back on the run game. Once the defense was leaning run on their coverage, Haskins could open the game up with downfield passes.

Look for Haskins to improve upon his play under pressure. The offensive line is only going to see strong competition the rest of the season, so Haskins and coach Ryan Day will likely make that a point of emphasis moving forward.