The throw that may have won Ohio State's quarterback battle: Doug Lesmerises

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Nearly flat-flooted, taking half a stride with a blitzing linebacker sidling toward him in a spring game when no Ohio State quarterback was worried about truly absorbing a hit, Dwayne Haskins ripped the ball through the air and showed why he's different.

Joe Burrow moves the offense. Tate Martell runs and cuts like a dynamo.

But the arm. That throw. Those possibilities.

All spring, Urban Meyer has described the Buckeyes' quarterback battle as changing day to day, practice to practice, sometimes play to play. Saturday's spring game showed the rest of us what Meyer was talking about.

There's a chance that the Buckeyes put three of the best eight or so quarterbacks in the Big Ten on the field for their final event of spring football. There's Trace McSorley at Penn State and Clayton Thorson at Northwestern and Alex Hornibrook at Wisconsin and Brian Lewerke at Michigan State and Shea Patterson at Michigan if he's eligible. But imagine Tate Martell running the offense for any other Big Ten team -- and imagine how worried Meyer would sound if the Buckeyes were trying to stop Martell this fall.

And he's third in Columbus. Clearly third. He just didn't throw it well enough Saturday to be anything else. But you could see what Martell can become.

Who's first?

It has to be the 6-foot-3, 218-pounder who flipped it 32 yards onto the hands of Jaylen Harris for a touchdown as a defender spun in confusion.

"I couldn't really see him," Haskins said. "I just saw he caught it. I'm glad he scored."

[?] @dh_simba7 showing off the arm to put team scarlet right back on top. #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/iQvph5Qonx
-- Ohio State Buckeyes (@OhioStAthletics) April 14, 2018

Burrow can do a lot of things as a quarterback. The guess is that he's a starting quarterback this fall, because he is undoubtedly good enough to be one. But the guess is that it's somewhere else. Because it's hard to imagine Meyer turning away from a guy who can throw it like Haskins.

And that's the battle. Burrow can do it all. But Haskins can do that.

It's not that Haskins isn't good enough to play. He is. It's not that Burrow can't make big throws. He can.

It's just that Saturday, Burrow looked a little more consistently in control, a little more comfortable in the pocket, a little more able to slide as pressure was coming and then complete a 10-yard throw.

And Haskins dropped dimes. More than once.

I asked Meyer if that was the battle this spring -- Burrow moving the offense, but Haskins is just able to make throws that few college quarterbacks can.

"That's probably a true statement," Meyer said of Haskins' throwing ability. "Very accurate and a live arm."

And then he continued with strong praise of Burrow.

"Joe has to be one of the most improved quarterbacks as far as delivery speed and arm," Meyer said. "He's always been a very smart, tough guy, but his improvement is very notable the last couple years. ... I think they both have very good arms."

Both do. The Buckeyes could win with both. Burrow played especially well at the end of Saturday's game, dropping a 42-yard touchdown onto Demario McCall's hands at the goal line on the final play of the game. Burrow just stood at midfield watching the throw, then turned, took a few steps, shook the hand of Meyer (who stood a few yards behind his quarterback all day) and then caught a goofily enthusiastic Nick Bosa in his arms.

Burrow finished 15-of-22 for 238 yards and two touchdowns.

Haskins finished 9-of-19 for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

Martell finished 4-of-7 for 49 yards, but ran for 69 yards on 11 carries.

The stats, while officially compiled by Ohio State, are a bit rough considering there wasn't full tackling most of the day.

But it's not just about numbers. Meyer said the Buckeyes, as always, tracked everything in every practice all spring, and that data will matter. Meyer planned to meet with offensive coordinators Ryan Day and Kevin Wilson on Saturday, and then they'll get together again Monday to really dig into the QB battle.

"Decisions have not been made," Meyer said. But data, he made clear, is second in the evaluation.

First is that general idea of 'Is this guy our quarterback?"

When Meyer thinks about it, he'll have to think about that throw Haskins made Saturday. And every other throw like that he made this spring. And every other throw he could make like that this fall.

What Haskins has to do is keep showing Meyer those throws, one after another.

"I feel like because I have a big arm we throw a lot of deep passes when I'm in the game," Haskins said Saturday, "but I feel like I do a great job with throwing it all over the field. I just feel I can throw it all over the field, it's not just a deep thing that I excel at."

Haskins changes the offense, and that's what Meyer probably can't ignore. In everything the Buckeyes do as a national contender, an idea in the back of their minds must be, "Does that beat Alabama?"

Those Haskins throws beat Alabama.

The battle may not be over, but a Burrow transfer before the fall would end it. Burrow is a starter. But Haskins may be a star.

The touchdown to Harris got him rolling. Haskins gave him another couple one-on-one chances that Harris couldn't quite haul in. Then came a perfect 43-yard sideline route dropped into the arms of Ben Victor. That was actually Haskins' favorite toss Saturday.

"I thought it was a pretty good pass," Haskins said.

It was another one of those throws that wins quarterback competitions.

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