Forced to put up 52 points in order to defeat a sub-.500 Maryland squad in overtime, Ohio State's offense cranked out 688 total yards of offense including 283 on the ground.
The rushing output marked the second-best effort of the season which was made more impressive with Mike Weber unable to play due to what Urban Meyer labeled as a quad contusion.
Fellow tailback J.K. Dobbins certainly did more than his fair share in Weber's absence churning out 203 yards on 37 carries. Little-used Swiss Army knife Demario McCall tallied two carries while Tate Martell and Parris Campbell carried it once each.
That left quarterback Dwayne Haskins to chip in like he's never been asked before and the sizable but awkward runner turned career highs in rushing attempts, yards and touchdowns with 15 attempts for 59 yards and three touchdowns including what turned out to be the game-winner via a 5-yard jaunt in overtime.
Meyer met with the assembled media on Monday and had good things to say about his signal-caller's toughness, a trait that has seemingly grown in recent weeks.
COACH MEYER: Co-players of the game were Dwayne Haskins, 28-of-38 for 464 total yards and six total touchdowns. Ran the ball the best he has.
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Q. You talked about Dwayne and toughness after the game at Maryland. What does it do for an offense when that mindset starts to emanate from the quarterback position?
COACH MEYER: I made this comment, the quarterback position is the most unique position, in my opinion, in really all of sport, where everybody’s relying on you. Everybody’s looking at you. You have a responsibility what the other ten guys are doing. You have to make all kinds of decisions within 1.8 to 2.5 seconds. And you have to be a tough guy. You have to lead. Everybody’s got their own Drew Brees to Peyton Manning and Tom Brady how they lead.
And Dwayne really took a step, really took a step. No more important than the last play of the game when he dropped his pads and had to get in there and he got in there.
Q. Why do you think that happened? Had there been ongoing discussions about that?
COACH MEYER: Sure. I think Ryan Day is a great football coach. And the two of them — everybody has big dreams and part of being a big dream is being that guy that can move a team, not just throw a pretty pass but do things you have to do to win a game.
I don't think anyone is under the illusion Ohio State would or should ask for Haskins to carry the ball another 15 times this Saturday against Michigan – especially with Weber back in the fold – but everyone should be excited about the fact he seems to be a little more interested in carrying the ball when necessary either off an abandoned pass play or a straight run.
It might not be a coincidence Haskins has looked a little tougher and willing to put his body on the line ever since Meyer inserted Martell at quarterback during a few trips to Michigan State's red zone but hey, whatever it takes.
Before that, Haskins had shown on a few occasions a propensity to slide well ahead of oncoming defenders, maybe release the football a hair early to avoid or minimize a hit and his running style when forced to do so resembled the gait of C3PO.
Lately, however, he's looked more like the kid we saw race down the right sideline for 22 yards to the 1-yard line setting up a score in last year's victory in Ann Arbor.
Again, the goal Saturday isn't to get Haskins heavily involved in the running game but assuming Michigan opts to bring pressure early and often, Ohio State could benefit from Haskins being decisive when bailing from the pocket and turning up field in an effort to keep the offense on schedule.
Obviously, doing so will be paramount for a Buckeyes offense that will most likely have to outscore Michigan if Meyer is to remain undefeated against the Wolverines.
