Ohio State was able to snap Indiana’s 22-game winning streak on Saturday, beating the Hoosiers 19-15 in a battle between the last two national champions. The victory didn’t come without a price, as quarterback Julian Sayin left the game in the fourth quarter due to injury. Sayin would emerge from the locker room towards the end of the game with his arm in a sling.
Not long after the end of the game, head coach Ryan Day announced Sayin would miss at least a few weeks. With Sayin not able to play, backup quarterback Luke Fahey will get the first crack at running the Buckeye offense. The true freshman beat out Tavien St. Clair during preseason camp. While Fahey looked a bit frazzled late in the game against the Hoosiers, he’ll have two weeks to prepare for Ohio State’s next game when they take on USC on Halloween.
This won’t be the first time Ohio State has had to have a backup quarterback step up after an injury to their starter. Back in 2014, the Buckeyes had two backups see significant time after Braxton Miller had shoulder surgery prior to the season and then backup J.T. Barrett suffered an ankle injury against Michigan. Hopefully this season mirrors 2014 and is less like 2023 in terms of results, since Ohio State went on to win a national title in 2014, while the 2023 team fell on their face in the Cotton Bowl after Kyle McCord entered the transfer portal.
Today we want to know which Ohio State backup quarterback is your favorite. There are a number of backups who went on to have memorable stints taking the snaps when their number was called. With Ohio State in the thick of the playoff race, Luke Fahey has a chance to become a Buckeye legend if he can lead the Buckeyes to the College Football Playoff and potentially a national title.
Today’s question: Who is your favorite Ohio State backup quarterback who was forced into action?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: Kenny Guiton
Entering Urban Meyer’s first season as head coach, it was obvious Braxton Miller would be Ohio State’s starting quarterback after a solid freshman campaign in 2011. With the Buckeyes sitting at 7-0 on the season, Miller was injured in the third quarter against Purdue in a game Ohio State was trailing 20-14. Not only did Guiton find Chris Fields for a touchdown with three seconds left in the fourth quarter, but the backup quarterback also converted a two-point conversion to send the game to overtime. The Buckeyes went on to win the game 29-22 and finished the season undefeated.
Guiton would again be called on in 2013 when Miller was injured in the second game of the season against San Diego State. After Miller was injured, Guiton threw for 152 yards and two scores against the Aztecs, and added 83 yards rushing and a touchdown. With Miller sidelined for the next two games, Guiton would toss 10 touchdowns and just one interception in wins over Cal and Florida A&M.
In the blowout of Florida A&M, Guiton set a school record when he threw six touchdown passes in the first half. By the end of the year, Guiton totaled 19 touchdowns in limited action for an Ohio State team that finished the regular season undefeated before losing in the Big Ten Championship Game and the Orange Bowl.
Even though J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones came up bigger than Guiton while filling in for Miller the next season, there was something about Guiton running the Ohio State offense that was so smooth. It would have been interesting to see how the Buckeyes would have done had Guiton gotten a full season as starter.
It became obvious how sharp Guiton’s football IQ is as soon as his playing career finished; he seamlessly transitioned into coaching. After spending last year as Wisconsin’s wide receivers coach, this year Guiton is serving as the quarterbacks coach for the Badgers.
Matt’s answer: Dwayne Haskins
I admit, this was a tough one for me, because there are so many different ways that you could go with it. As mentioned above, J.T. Barrett is a fully valid option, as he was forced into action ahead of the 2014 season following the injury to Braxton Miller. And since I am on record saying that I think Barrett is the greatest quarterback in Ohio State history (which is different than the best, by the way), that would be a logical route to go. But No. 16 entered that season as the starter, so I almost feel like that would be cheating a little bit.
So I am fast-forwarding to 2017 and going with the guy who had to step in when it was Barrett who was hurt; of course, I am going with the late, great Dwayne Haskins Jr.
There are few situations in college football more intimidating than being a backup quarterback suddenly thrust into action against your biggest rival, on the road, with your team trailing and the entire season potentially hanging in the balance. But that’s exactly where Haskins found himself as a redshirt freshman in the 2017 regular-season finale. Of course, thanks to Simba, what happened from there would go on to become one of the most memorable chapters in the history of the greatest rivalry in sports.
The Buckeyes had already spent much of the afternoon struggling against the Wolverines, falling behind 14-0 before fighting back to tie the game. But Michigan regained the lead in the third quarter, and with Ohio State trailing 20-14, Barrett was forced to leave the game with a knee injury.
Suddenly, Urban Meyer had to turn to a largely untested freshman who had never played meaningful snaps in a game of this magnitude. Not exactly the type of lion’s den you want to throw an untested freshman into, but there wasn’t much of a choice.
Things didn’t exactly get easier when two consecutive false starts left the Buckeyes facing third-and-13 near midfield. But rather than panic, Haskins delivered one of the most important throws of Ohio State’s season, firing a 27-yard strike to Austin Mack between two Michigan defenders to keep the drive alive. Two plays later, Haskins showed off his legs, scrambling 22 yards to the Wolverines’ 1-yard line, setting up a J.K. Dobbins touchdown that gave Ohio State its first lead of the afternoon, and the Buckeyes never looked back.
Haskins finished the game completing six of seven passes for 94 yards, adding 24 yards on the ground as Ohio State scored the game’s final 17 points to secure a 31-20 victory. Not bad for a guy who had entered the afternoon with only 15 completions in Big Ten play.
Of course, Haskins would go on to have one of the greatest individual seasons in Ohio State history the following year, throwing for a ridiculous 4,831 yards and 50 touchdowns, earning the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Award, an invitation to the Heisman Trophy ceremony, and a first-round NFL Draft selection.
But for me, every memory of Haskins starts on that late-November afternoon in Ann Arbor, and I still get teary-eyed (as I am right now writing this) thinking that No. 7 is no longer with us. But for many Buckeye fans, Nov. 25, 2017, was the day a backup quarterback saved The Game and Dwayne Haskins became an Ohio State legend that we could never forget.