Ohio State lost a legend on Saturday morning when former Buckeye quarterback Dwayne Haskins was tragically killed when he was hit by a car.
While Haskins is gone far too soon at 24 years old, his Ohio State career will never be forgotten by the Buckeye fans who watched it unfold, as Haskins rewrote Ohio State’s record books and set a new standard for quarterback play in Columbus. In the 2018 season alone, Haskins broke school records for passing yards (4,831), passing touchdowns (50), completion percentage (70.0) and for winning the most Big Ten offensive player of the week awards (six) in a single season.
As we remember Haskins’ illustrious career in scarlet and gray, we take a look back at his greatest moments as a Buckeye.
Young Dwayne predicts the future (May 17, 2008)
Haskins’ first legendary moment at Ohio State came when he was just 11 years old. While touring the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, Haskins famously declared in a video filmed by his family that he would be an Ohio State quarterback when he grew up.
More than seven years later, Haskins would make that dream come true when he signed with the Buckeyes as a member of their recruiting class of 2016, starting what would be one of the most prolific careers ever for an Ohio State quarterback.
Comes off the bench to beat Michigan (Nov. 25, 2017)
Haskins’ mettle was put to the test as just a redshirt freshman in the Buckeyes’ rivalry game in 2017, as regular starting quarterback J.T. Barrett exited the Michigan matchup with a knee injury with Ohio State trailing Michigan in the third quarter. Haskins entered the game and led the Buckeyes to a touchdown on his very first drive, which included a 27-yard 3rd-and-long completion to Austin Mack and a 22-yard quarterback run to the 1-yard-line before J.K. Dobbins punched in a touchdown.
Things looked bleak for @OhioStateFB following J.T. Barrett's exit, but Dwayne Haskins and Austin Mack stepped up HUGE on this drive.
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 25, 2017
And J.K. Dobbins finished the job. 21-20 Buckeyes. pic.twitter.com/Y6c7nDB7Td
Down six when Haskins entered the game, the Buckeyes finished with a 31-20 win over the Wolverines, and the second-year passer appeared poised for future stardom under center after going 6-for-7 for 94 yards in The Game.
Five touchdowns in first career start (Sept. 1, 2018)
Ohio State’s passing offense operated at a capacity previously unseen in Columbus in 2018, and it didn’t take long for Haskins to show fans what they could expect all season in his very first start. Home at the Shoe to open the season against Oregon State, Haskins led the Buckeyes to a whopping 77 points in a 46-point win, and Ohio State scored six touchdowns in the first half alone. Haskins threw five touchdowns to four different receivers, including a 75-yard connection with Terry McLaurin, and finished the game with 313 passing yards after completing 22 of his 30 attempts.
With Haskins at the helm, Ohio State tied a school record for points in a season opener, and the redshirt sophomore broke Buckeye records for most passing yards and touchdowns in a first career start. The performance was only a sign of things to come.
Fourth-quarter comeback win over Penn State (Sept. 29, 2018)
Pushed to the brink on the road for the first time in 2018, Haskins engineered a fourth-quarter comeback at Beaver Stadium that saw Ohio State go from down 12 points to Penn State with eight minutes to go to up one and in the win column by the time the clock hit zeroes. Particularly crucial in the come-from-behind effort in a hostile white-out environment was a 47-yard catch-and-run touchdown connection from Haskins to Binjimen Victor, which put Ohio State within one score of the Nittany Lions. Haskins delivered the game-winning 24-yard strike to K.J. Hill with 2:03 to play in Happy Valley.
It was a signature moment for the eventual Heisman Trophy finalist as he helped pull out a top-10 win over a Big Ten opponent on the road in a memorable clash between East Division foes.
Six scores, 396 yards in The Game (Nov. 24, 2018)
Many thought the streak would come to an end in 2018. Having been blown off the field by Purdue the month prior, Ohio State entered its matchup with Michigan fresh off the heels of a 52-51 win over an unranked Maryland team that the Buckeyes needed overtime to beat. But despite entering the game as an underdog, Haskins and the Buckeye pass attack mounted a full-scale aerial assault on Don Brown and the Michigan secondary, racking up 62 points as Haskins threw for 396 yards and a whopping six touchdowns.
In earning his second win over Michigan, Haskins helped Ohio State punch its ticket to another Big Ten title game berth the following week. Michigan had never allowed more points in regulation, and the Buckeyes’ 62-39 win will live on in the lore of The Game for years to come.
Breaks his own passing record in Big Ten title win (Dec. 1, 2018)
After previously breaking Ohio State’s single-game passing yards record with a 470-yard outing in the Buckeyes’ lone loss of the 2018 season against Purdue, Haskins broke his own record in much more celebratory fashion when he threw for 499 yards in the Buckeyes’ 45-24 win over Northwestern in the 2018 Big Ten Championship Game.
In what may have been the finest performance of his Ohio State career, Haskins completed 34 of his 41 passing attempts for 499 yards and five touchdowns with only one interception, ensuring that he would earn an invitation for the following week’s Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York, where he finished third.
Haskins’ 499 passing yards and five passing touchdowns both still stand as Big Ten Championship Game records. He continued to hold Ohio State’s single-game passing yards record until last season’s Rose Bowl, when C.J. Stroud threw for 573 yards.
Going out with a Rose Bowl win (Jan. 1, 2019)
Haskins capped off his Ohio State career by throwing three first-half touchdowns against Washington – a trio of touchdowns that would bring him to an even 50 passing touchdowns for the season – to lead the Buckeyes to a 28-23 win in the 2019 Rose Bowl, which was both his final game as the Buckeyes’ quarterback and Urban Meyer’s final game as Ohio State’s coach.
After completing 25 of his 37 passing attempts for 251 yards against the Huskies, Haskins was named offensive MVP of the Rose Bowl, etching his name into the lore of college football’s most historic bowl game.
