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September 26, 2018Just four weeks into his first season as the Ohio State Buckeyes starting quarterback, Dwayne Haskins has continued to impress every step of the way. It all started with his impressive debut against Oregon State in the season opener and college football has kept a close eye on the gunslinger ever since, including in Ohio State’s win over TCU in primetime nearly 11 days ago.
Throughout the first third of the season, Haskins has continued to have the third-best odds to win the Heisman Trophy at season’s end, behind only Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and West Virginia quarterback Will Grier. Following the win over the Horned Frogs, he rose to No. 2, tied with Grier. Heading into Week 4 of the college football season and following an easy win over Tulane that Haskins dominated the opposition yet again, the redshirt sophomore now has the second-best odds to win college football’s most prestigious individual award all to himself. At 5-to-1, Haskins only trails Tagovailoa, according to Bovada.
The top-10 Heisman odds:
- QB Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama: 23-to-20
- QB Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State: 5-to-1
- QB Will Grier, West Virginia: 13-to-2
- QB Kyler Murray, Oklahoma: 8-to-1
- RB Johnathan Taylor, Wisconsin: 16-to-1
- QB Trace McSorley, Penn State: 16-to-1
- RB Bryce Love, Stanford: 16-to-1
- QB McKenzie Milton, UCF: 16-to-1
- QB Shea Patterson, Michigan: 33-to-1
- RB D’Andre Swift, Georgia; QB Drew Lock, Missouri; QB Nick Fitzgerald, Mississippi State; QB Trevor Lawrence, Clemson; QB Jake Fromm, Georgia: 40-to-1
After completing 21-of-24 passes for 304 yards and five touchdowns in just over one half during Ohio State’s win over Tulane last Saturday, Haskins took him his second Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors on Monday, the second time he has been given the honors this season.1
Through four games this season, the redshirt sophomore has completed 87-of-115 passes (75.7 percent) for 1,194 yards, 16 touchdowns, and just one interception. He has 1,222 total yards and 17 touchdowns. Compare that to former Buckeye great Troy Smith’s 2006 Heisman Trophy-winning season, where he had just 888 total yards and eight touchdowns in his team’s first four games and the comparisons are incredible. And to think that he has attempted just four fourth-quarter passes due to Ohio State dominating the majority of their early-season opponents makes those stats look even more impressive.
Due to social media and his friends reminding him, Haskins knows the hype surrounding his race for a possible trip to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony at season’s end. He’s doing his best to keep his focus on the field though and will let his play do the talking.
“That was only my fourth game, and I feel like I can only get better,” Haskins said following Tuesday’s practice. “I’m just going to keep executing, making minimal mistakes and I feel like I’m doing a great job of managing the offense, managing the downs and situation. I just want to keep getting better at that every week. I let my play speak for itself.”
Unlike Haskins, one of the gunslinger’s running backs, J.K. Dobbins, took quite a hit in the most recent Heisman Trophy odds. After he rose into the top 10 following an impressive performance in the win over TCU, the sophomore running back’s odds fell all the way to 80-to-1, which is 18th-best as it stands. Nick Bosa, who got hurt in the game against the Horned Frogs, dropped out of the rankings last week and after missing last week due to an injury, continued to remain out of the rankings. Unfortunately for the defensive end and one of college football’s best players, due to him being out until at least November and possibly even longer, Bosa will no longer be in the Heisman race.
After falling a bit down the rankings after Week 1, Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson has continued to rise up the odds, reaching the top 10 for the first time this week. The Wolverines’ offense goes as their quarterback does, and it seems as though they have been quite good over the last couple weeks.
With a primetime matchup in Happy Valley against Penn State Saturday night, Haskins has another opportunity to impress the college football world again. It will be tough, but if the gunslinger can help lead the Buckeyes to a big-time win over the Nittany Lions, it would be yet another impressive game to add to his resume, one continues to grow.
- His first came when he threw for 313 yards and five touchdowns in the season opener against Oregon State. [↩]