The idea of dual-threat quarterbacks giving the offense a numbers advantage is not exactly a novel concept for Urban Meyer, who on Monday reiterated the point, saying signal-callers who have the ability to run force defenses to treat the offense as if it has 11 1/2 players. The Ohio State head coach has taken advantage of that for decades.
Since taking over at Ohio State in 2012, Meyer used Braxton Miller’s tantalizing speed and J.T. Barrett’s powerful running style to threaten defenses with quarterback runs. Even Cardale Jones had five games with double-digit carries. Before them, dual-threats Alex Smith and Tim Tebow quarterbacked Meyer’s teams with tremendous success.
More than anything, having a quarterback who often tucks the ball and takes off down the field gives Meyer a level of comfortability. If things go wrong in the passing game, he can use the numbers advantage with a quarterback to take apart a defense on the ground, which in turn can open up holes through the air.
But after stepping back from the offense this season into more of a “game manager” role, that safety blanket doesn’t exist. Dwayne Haskins hasn’t run more than three times in a single game. If Haskins rushes more than five times in a game for the rest of the season, it would be a surprise — and a bad sign for the Buckeyes. He wins through the air.
“When you watch the film, it's like I said, it's not the same,” Meyer said. “It's a very different offense right now. One was a run-first, pass-second. This is a do what they give you. So, it's very different. I don't think we've ever had a team average over 300 yards passing in a game, either. So, it's different. But the one thing that Ryan and Kevin have done is utilize the skill set we have of the offensive personnel.”
Instead, on Saturday, it will factor how Meyer’s team defends Penn State’s offense, which is led by quarterback Trace McSorley.
“This will be a true spread quarterback,” Meyer said. “J.T. was this guy at quarterback. It's a much different mindset. You've got to make sure you always account for it.”
Like Barrett, whom Meyer compares him to, McSorley threatens defenses with his feet and is adept at scrambling behind the line long enough for receivers to get open the the field.
“Scheme's very similar to what they've done in the past and obviously the quarterback's the guy that makes it go."– Urban Meyer
McSorley has 41 rushes for 235 yards through four games, including a 15-rush, 92-yard performance on Saturday against Illinois. The preseason Associated Press second-team All-American has completed 57-of-106 passes (53.8 percent) for 763 yards. He has eight passing touchdowns and has rushed for six scores.
“A winner, a guy that can do it all,” Meyer said. “And a competitor.”
Meyer doesn’t expect many surprises in Penn State’s offensive attack.
“Scheme's very similar to what they've done in the past and obviously the quarterback's the guy that makes it go,” Meyer said.
As a sophomore, McSorley’s Nittany Lions beat the Buckeyes, 24-21, but he completed just eight of 23 passes for 154 yards and a single touchdown. He scored a touchdown on one of his 19 rushes that accumulated 63 yards. The following year, in a 39-38 loss to Ohio State, McSorley went 17 for 29 for 192 yards and two touchdowns. He had 13 rushes for 49 yards, including a touchdown.
He has hurt Ohio State nearly as much with his legs as through the air the past two seasons.
And while the Buckeyes’ defensive backfield seems more flawed and readily attackable than in the past when they had Malik Hooker, Marshon Lattimore, Denzel Ward, Gareon Conley and others patrolling the secondary, McSorley will certainly test the front seven, who will have to account for him as a runner.
It’s the exact same thing Meyer has made defenses watch for with Miller, Barrett and others in the past, and it has changed how Ohio State runs its offense.
“Well, it's not double-option football anymore,” Meyer said. “That was double. The double options are, sometimes you'll see it looks like a called pass, but that's a run where we're reading the second-level defenders. So it's completely different.”
It has been different for Meyer and the Buckeyes this year, but they’ll get a chance to see a dual-threat quarterback again on Saturday — from a different perspective, defending McSorley.