Ryan Day reveals plan for Saturday's spring game, how OSU will honor Dwayne Haskins

The Ohio State spring game is set for Saturday, April 16 and it’s one of the more anticipated spring games in program history for a number of reasons. The Buckeyes are set to honor one of the greatest quarterbacks in program history, Dwayne Haskins, after he was recently killed in an accident on a Florida highway. On Thursday, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day discussed the plans for the Buckeyes’ spring game and how they will pay tribute to Haskins.

“For the spring game itself–we’ve decided we’re gonna kind of go offense versus defense format for that. We’ll probably start off with a little bit of a thud and quickly go into tackling. Of course, when we’re in the game, we will tackle in the spring game. Looking for a great crowd,” Day said.

“We are gonna do a couple things to tribute for Dwayne [Haskins]. Will be at the end of the first half. A little video for him. And a moment of silence before. And then still have a few other things that we’re gonna do to recognize him symbolically. Really excited about Saturday. We’ve got a lot of great recruits coming in. A lot of people coming in for this [coaches] clinic. It’ll be nice to have Buckeye Nation together for this event on Saturday to celebrate our team and the hard work we put in this spring. But also to get everybody together to honor Dwayne. I think it’s appropriate. So, it’s gonna be a lot of excitement but also a lot of moments in the day that will be deep thoughts based on just our memories with Dwayne and playing in that stadium,” Day said.

Dwayne Haskins, former Ohio State star, NFL quarterback, dead at 24

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and former Ohio State star Dwayne Haskins was killed Saturday morning after getting hit by a car in South Florida, his agent told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Haskins, 24, was getting ready for his second season with the Steelers after starting his career with the Washington Commanders. He didn’t play for Pittsburgh last season, but the Steelers decided to bring him back to challenge Mitchell Trubisky for the starting job.

In two years with Washington before getting to Pittsburgh, Haskins threw for 2,804 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Commanders drafted him as the No. 15 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft after a standout career at Ohio State. With the Buckeyes, he was First Team All-Big Ten and the Big Ten Championship MVP in 2018 before also winning Rose Bowl MVP.

As a high school prospect, Dwayne Haskins was highly decorated coming out of high school and was one of the nation’s elite quarterback prospects. He was rated as the nation’s No. 7 quarterback prospect in the 2016 recruiting class, according to the On3 Consensus Rankings. As a junior, Haskins was named the Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year. He was also named to the Under Armour All-American Game. Throughout his decorated career for Bullis School, he threw for 5,308 passing yards and 54 passing touchdowns.

The Ohio State spring game is set for noon on Saturday, April 16 in Ohio Stadium.

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this article.