Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins’ 2018 season is historic on many levels and he’s being recognized for his record setting season in a big way.

The redshirt sophomore will be in New York this Saturday as one of the three finalists for the Heisman Trophy along with Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray.

He is the first Ohio State player to be a Heisman finalist since Troy Smith won the award in 2006 and could be the eighth Buckeye to win the Heisman which would be the most by one school.

Despite leading the nation in both passing yards (4,580) and touchdown passes (47), Haskins is a heavy underdog according to betting odds to win the award.

Odds per BetOnline

• Kyler Murray (-145)
• Tua Tagovailoa (+125)
• Dwayne Haskins (+1600)

When you look at the stats of all three quarterbacks, you would think that Haskins would have the Heisman locked up but unfortunately that’s not the case.

Haskins: 348 of 496 (70.2%) for 4,580 yards, 47 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, 175.8 QB rating. 73 carries for 122 yards and four rushing touchdowns.

Murray: 241 of 340 (70.9%) for 4,053 yards, 40 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 205.7 QB rating. 123 carries for 892 yards and eleven rushing touchdowns.

Tagovailoa: 199 of 294 (67.7%) for 3,353 yards, 37 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 202.3 QB rating. 48 carries for 190 yards and five rushing touchdowns.

Of course Haskins played in a more pass-heavy offense and threw 156 more attempts than Murray and 202 more than Tagovailoa which leads to the inflation in numbers.

Despite having J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber in the backfield, Ohio State threw it 49.3% of their offensive plays, compared to Alabama who threw 43.2% of their plays and Oklahoma who threw 42.4% of their plays.

Haskins does deserve the recognition though because it’s such a historic season for not only Ohio State but Big Ten history as he has set multiple school and conference records and could become the first Big Ten quarterback in history to throw for over 5,000 yards and 50 touchdown passes as Ohio State takes on Washington in the Rose Bowl on January 1.

I think with Tua Tagovailoa struggling in the SEC Championship game against Georgia that he ended up leaving early due to injury that it could’ve swayed voters towards Murray who may have had Tua as the front runner for the award prior to the conference championships.

Add in the fact that Jalen Hurts stepped in and brought Alabama from behind to beat Georgia and the voters who had yet to turn in their ballot could’ve turned their attention to Murray or Haskins who both had dominating performances to lead their teams to conference championships.

If I had a Heisman ballot, I would’ve voted it the following way

1. Kyler Murray
2. Dwayne Haskins
3. Tua Tagovailoa

Looking at the complete body of work, I think Murray has been the most outstanding college football player which is the definition of the Heisman Trophy.

While many will point at the fact that the Big 12 Conference doesn’t play defense and quarterbacks in that conference have inflated numbers, many weren’t saying that a year ago when Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield won the award.

Murray has been just as good, if not better than Mayfield’s 2017 campaign and has displayed his ability as a dual threat quarterback becoming the first quarterback ever to average over 300 yards passing and 60 yards rushing per game for an entire season. He also broke Mayfield’s single-season passing efficiency rating record of 198.9 with a rating of 205.7.