COLUMBUS — Another week, another step forward for the Ohio State football team and its new starting quarterback.

Many wondered at the start of the season how Dwayne Haskins would do stepping into arguably the most talked about position in all of Ohio sports — Buckeyes starting signalcaller.

So far, quite well.

Haskins, to no one’s surprise, cut through Oregon State, Rutgers and Tulane like a hot knife through butter. The true tests, though, came on the road against ranked opponents TCU and Penn State. He sliced them up, too.

To date, the Maryland native has earned three Big Ten Player of the Week nods this fall, the latest stemming from the Buckeyes’ 27-26 come-from-behind victory against the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley.

There, he sparked one of Ohio State’s most-memorable comebacks, one that saw the Buckeyes storm back from 12 down in the closing moments as a sea of white enveloped them.

Haskins was 7 of 10 for 138 yards and two touchdown passes in the fourth and concluded the night with 75- and 96-yard scoring drives inside of eight minutes to play.

Indiana head coach Tom Allen, for one, is a true believer in Haskins’ ability to lead a team.

“Vey accurate passer, and if he has time, he’d deadly,” Allen said Monday at his weekly meeting with the media ahead of the Hoosiers’ Saturday visit to Ohio Stadium (4 p.m.) for Homecoming.

“It’s a very different challenge that he creates than since I’ve been here. He’s not, you know, experienced by any means in terms of multiple years, but he sure plays like he is. He’s got a lot of poise and confidence, and he’s got a lot of weapons around him.”

Allen went on to say Haskins has been tested in big-time moments.

“He’s proven he’s a big-time player and is a guy we have to have some answers for, but it will be a tremendous challenge to keep him from being as effective as he’s been, but that’s what we’ve got to do.”

Haskins finished the Penn State contest with 270 yards and three touchdowns. He’s the head of a unit now that ranks in the top 10 nationally in points (49.0/6th), passing yards (346.6/8th) and total offense (557/4th).

“I’ve been here for three seasons, it’s the most talented Ohio State team I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Allen said. “So very, very good football team on both sides and special teams. Just a lot of playmakers and speed and athleticism and size and very accurate quarterback and very, very athletic defensive unit.”

Haskins is spreading the wealth. Seventeen different players have caught a pass this season and 10 have caught touchdown passes. KJ Hill leads the team with 27 receptions, while teammate Parris Campbell tops the unit in receiving yardage with 359. As OSU’s game notes illustrate, Ohio State’s receiving corps includes a top six group of players who all have at least 500 career receiving yards and at least 34 career receptions.

Meyer, who always believes there’s room to improve, believes his team is in a pretty good place.

“We went on the road twice, against TCU, a top 10 team on the road and Penn State on the road,” he offered. “I don’t know any school in the country that did that this year.

“We walked away with wins. Also, we lost one of the top football players in America (Nick Bosa) on defense.

“We’re just coaching our tails off to make the guys better. Young players have to contribute. The ceiling here is — we don’t have time. We are just working on what we have to worry about.”