Quarterback Dwayne Haskins will make his first start on Saturday when Ohio State hosts Oregon State.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Pat Cilento likely envisioned the scenario many times before, making the short drive from Potomac, Maryland to College Park with Dwayne Haskins on his mind.
Three years ago Haskins was Cilento's quarterback at The Bullis School, a buttoned-up prep school 13 miles outside of Washington D.C. with 100 percent college placement and an alumni base that includes, among others, the children of Washington bureaucrats and an Iranian princess. Back then, Haskins was committed to the University of Maryland, close enough for Cilento to watch him whenever he wanted.
On this Saturday last fall, though, Cilento wasn't driving to see Haskins. He was on his way to College Park to watch Maryland play Penn State.
On the radio he heard that J.T. Barrett had just exited in the third quarter of Ohio State's game against Michigan. Haskins was coming in. The signal connected Cilento to Ann Arbor as he listened in on Haskins' third-down completion to Austin Mack, his 22-yard scramble down to the Michigan 1-yard line and the three scoring drives he led in the Buckeyes' come-from-behind win.
Those plays helped bring back memories of Haskins's senior year at Bullis, the eight touchdowns he had in a 66-65 overtime loss to Woodberry Forest, the four throws he completed on a badly-sprained right ankle in the final 91 seconds of a 19-16 win over Georgetown Prep, including the dart of a back-shoulder throw that clinched a share of a conference title. Cilento has all of the hits memorized.
See, Haskins' heroics in the win at Michigan last year was the first glimpse for Ohio State fans that the Buckeyes might have something special at quarterback this year. For Cilento, that was normal.
"He's a very calm person," Cilento said. "He doesn't get overwhelmed by the situation and he thrives on pressure. The bigger the obstacle, the better he does."
The last year has been spent hearing people talk about how "special" Haskins' arm is, that he can transform Ohio State's dormant passing game into something more like it looked at the end of the 2014 national championship run. Just this week former Buckeye turned TV talking head Cris Carter said Haskins is the best quarterback he's seen at OSU since Art Schlichter.
Haskins is among the Heisman Trophy favorites at Vegas sportsbooks despite never starting a game in college, and gets social media attention when he's working out with Deshaun Watson in Atlanta or Antonio Brown on a beach in Miami. In a light quarterback class, he could be in the discussion for the NFL Draft as early as this spring.
All of that before we really know the answer to this question: Is he ready for his dream job as Ohio State's starting quarterback?
It's about more than the talent and confidence that Haskins oozes. Remember this is the kid who at eight years old was in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center in full OSU uniform, white head band and of course a No. 7 Haskins jersey, when he declared in a now well-known family video "I'm going to college here." He's living that dream now. Pressure comes with it.
Haskins has shown a calmness in just about the most adverse conditions an Ohio State quarterback can face, down in the third quarter at Michigan. But he was the backup then, a surprise change of pace from Barrett who won't be surprising anyone when he makes his first start on Saturday against Oregon State (12 p.m., ABC).
"You saw at the end of the season last year when he had to step into a role, he stepped right in there and he was ready to go," acting head coach and offensive coordinator Ryan Day said. "But now being a starter, that's different. You have to prepare different, you have to be ready. Teams have film on you and they start to see some of your tendencies. So it's going to be a week to week process as we get going. He has never started a game. So it will be a work in progress, but we're very happy with where he's at."
The work includes changing his physique to be more durable and polishing Haskins' game, though teammates continue to rave about that golden arm.
Receiver Johnnie Dixon recalled a play in camp when Haskins rolled to his right, kept his eyes right then threw a no-look pass back across his body to Mack on a slant on the left side.
"Just crazy," Dixon said.
The arm isn't in question.
"After he throws the deep ball, we're all watching it land into the receiver's hands like, 'That was a damn good ball,'" right tackle Isaiah Prince said.
Whether or not he's a guy Ohio State can rally around, whether he can carry the team through September dates with TCU in Arlington, Texas and at Penn State, if he can handle the weight of guiding a team with legitimate national title aspirations, if he has the resolve to consistently come up big in games against the gauntlet that is the top half of the Big Ten East -- those are the fair questions to ask, and the ones OSU players and coaches were looking for answers to during camp.
In winter workouts, Tate Martell was the most vocal of the quarterbacks, teammates said. Through the first week of camp Haskins, who's quiet despite having a personality that's right on the line between assertive and cocky, was still trying to get comfortable developing a commanding voice.
"Sometimes when we were sputtering on offense during practice he may be a little quiet, but there's been a couple times where I'll see him grab linemen, or he'll grab the receivers and encourage us to get things going," receiver Terry McLaurin said. "You want to see that from your quarterback, know that he's on your side but at the same time hold everybody accountable. When I saw him start to do that more and more, not sitting back and letting things happen, is when I knew he was taking that next step as a leader."
That was toward the end of the second week of camp, receiver Parris Campbell said. Haskins has continued growing since.
It's not really a tangible thing, a quarterback's ability to lead and handle the moment. Following in the footsteps of Barrett, growing in leadership can feel like a Sisyphean task that can't possibly be achieved over the course of 20-something camp practices.
The truth is it can't.
"The thing we talk about with Dwayne is he doesn't have to be JT, he doesn't have to be Braxton (Miller), he doesn't have to be Cardale (Jones)," Day said. "All the quarterbacks, they have to be themselves ... you have to find your own way to lead."
Haskins is still feeling that out.
"He feels loose," Dixon said. "You can tell he's being himself. He's not being one of those puppets on a stick. You can't be tense. I feel like that gives bad vibes off to people sometimes. He hasn't been that way at all for being a first-year starter. He's come a long way."
But it's not until the games start, and honestly probably not until that first tough game against TCU on Sept. 15, that Ohio State will know for sure if the potential riding on Haskins' right arm will be matched by all of the intangible things Day and Urban Meyer want from their quarterback.
Only then will his coaches and teammates know if the Haskins that showed up in Ann Arbor is the Haskins the Buckeyes can expect to show up all the time.
Though if they were in the car with Cilento listening to the radio last November, they might already know the answer to that question.
"The more pressure you put on him, the better he's gonna do," Cilento said. "He loves that pressure."
