Buckeyes Return To Winning, Work To Push Smith Toward Heisman

Ohio State needed to win in the worst way, and the Buckeyes accomplished their goal against Northwestern, feeding the football to Jeremiah Smith and by playing better defense.

Columbus, OH – Ohio State’s perplexing football season returned to a state of normalcy Saturday.

The Buckeyes won.

They still missed scoring opportunities, made out-of-character mistakes, and resembled a top-20 team more than a top-five team. But after consecutive losses, any path to victory feels like the freedom of no orange barrels on I-70.

The 28-19 margin of victory wasn’t close to vintage domination of Northwestern, but it was gritty on both sides of the line of scrimmage. And when a team is desperate for a victory, as head Buckeye Ryan Day said on Wednesday, grit is good and the relief is palpable.

“The last two weeks here have not been fun,” Day said, happy to not face questions for why his team lost. “It was good to see some guys smile in the locker room … the ability to bring everybody together and play the way we did today, in terms of effort and emotion, speaks to the character of the guys in that locker room and where we are in terms of our culture.”

A long list of reasons for the No. 20 Buckeyes’ consecutive losses circulates through the social media channels, the media that covers the team and conversations at work. Team culture, because of 51 new players, has been questioned. So has play calling, defensive lapses and the decision to start freshman Luke Fahey at quarterback after Julian Sayin was injured and lost for the season. All reasonable questions.

For a week, at least, the concerns will be tamped down – not washed away – and serve as a respite (not a cure) from all that ails the program.

“The whole team needed this, Ohio State needed this,” linebacker and 2026 team spokesman Christian Alliegro said. “The state needed this for sure.”

Fahey, perhaps, gained more from the victory than anyone. He won for the first time as a starter after suffering losses against USC and Oregon. He grew up in California as an Ohio State fan because of a family legacy at Ohio State that dates to 1898.

He entered the interview room for the first time, talking fast and full of adrenaline as if he had just downed a Monster energy drink.

“I can’t even kind of describe how I feel right now,” he said. “Can’t wait to go see my mom, my dad, and call my grandparents as well because this is the moment we’ve all dreamed about. To run out there every single time, it’s truly unreal. But to be playing the game and then finally get a win, words can’t describe how I feel right now.”

Feelings made possible by those around him and, most especially, record-breaking virtuoso Jeremiah Smith.

As always, Smith’s presence, plays and poise helped make up for the bad stuff that has been a consistent part of this season. Of Fahey’s 32 pass attempts, 17 went to Smith in what felt like a mandate from the head coach. He caught 11 of them for 117 yards and a 10-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to produce a 28-13 lead.

No play made Saturday could save or further wreck what is now a 7-3 season. But Smith made a play that saved the day and gave Fahey the opportunity to make the most important play of his young career, one advancing with baby steps.

The Buckeyes led 14-13 in the third quarter and visions of weeks past and potential for a blown lead were in play.

But Smith.

Fahey threw high to the sideline on third-and-10. Smith’s strong hands caught the ball as he went out of bounds at the Northwestern 17. Two officials huddled with Smith standing next to them. They ruled no catch. Smith didn’t complain. The call, however, was overturned when replay showed both sets of Smith’s toes dragging on the turf inbounds when the ball hit his hands.

If those tiny black pebbles of rubber didn’t spray into the air, the call might not have been overturned. It was that close.

Four plays later, the Buckeyes faced fourth down and less than a yard at the eight. Every inclination in the stadium, or at least 99% of them, said run the football, get the first down.

But only the men in scarlet and the men who coach them go to practice. They had a play they’d been working hard on, Day said, and they pushed that button.

Fahey rolled out to his left and threw toward Devin McCuin breaking toward the sideline. He caught the football at the two and scored the most important touchdown of the day on a play that had to work on a drive they had to have.

“We got the look that we thought we might get, and he was rolling out to his left,” Day said. “It’s been a little bit of a mixed bag on the move for him, but you can’t crawl up into a ball in those moments. And if we had the right look, we were going to run it. If not, we decided to pass it.”

Fahey’s biggest moment meant the Buckeyes led 21-13, were playing from ahead in the second half for the first time in three games, and the offense had juice. The call required trust and confidence in Fahey because he missed a similar throw in a second-half, do-or-die situation against Oregon.

“It was definitely good knowing that we had an opportunity again to hit that sprint out,” Fahey said. “Last week I missed it, unfortunately, and that was on me. But Coach [Arthur] Smith and Coach Day, and the whole offensive staff, dialed up a good play, and you just had to go out there and execute.”

Fahey finished 21 of 32 for 201 yards with an early interception and three touchdown passes. His first gave the Buckeyes a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter. He rolled right, thinking about running. But when the defender moved toward him, he dropped a four-yard touchdown over his head to running back Isaiah West.

Smith’s strong day keeps his Heisman Trophy hopes alive. Ohio State began a Heisman campaign this week dubbed “JJ 4 It All,” playing off his nickname and uniform number. His teammates left the field with a large, red foam hand holding up four fingers and the slogan.

They set them on the turf as they stood arm in arm and sang “Carmen Ohio.” Then some of them waved the big hands as they left the field. Defensive tackle Eddrick Houston entered the interview room wearing the hand.

“Y’all watch the film too, bruh, who else?” Houston said. “Please give me another name that’s doing better than number four. I’ll wait.”

A few seconds of silence from reporters gathered around him.

“Exactly.”

Alliegro, standing on the other side of the room, stumped for Smith, too.

“He’s generational,” he said. “What would we do without him?”

Indeed. Smith set another Big Ten record Saturday for career yards and extended his Ohio State record for 100-yard games to 17. His 3,875 yards and 42 touchdowns are the most in three seasons by an FBS receiver. The standard.

The Buckeyes showed Saturday they will give the effort needed to close the regular season with two more wins. They have pride in the program to play for, but they also want to give Smith the best chance possible to win the Heisman.

“The number one goal is to win, but we also have an obligation to this young man,” Day said. “What he’s done for our program, who he is as a person, how he plays, what he does for his teammates, what he means to this program, he deserves the opportunity to touch the football.”

The high volume of passes in Smith’s direction came a week after he went a large chunk of the Oregon loss without being targeted. Day expressed pleasure with how the game plan to emphasize Smith was executed.

Overall, execution on offense was better in Fahey’s first win. More plays looked like they were supposed to look. The offensive line, revamped again with starters Luke Montgomery and Phillip Daniels out with sickness, played one of its better games, according to Day.

Austin Siereveld was back at left tackle, where he played last year, Jake Cook filled in at left guard, and Ian Moore moved the right tackle. The running game had its most efficient day with Bo Jackson leading a 168-yard attack with 114 yards on 20 carries and a two-yard touchdown from the Wildcat formation.

Matt Patricia’s defense showed up, too, and limited the big, game-changing plays that marked the last two losses. They allowed some early third-down conversions, but they rallied with a strong second half.

The offense built a two-touchdown lead while the defense shut down the Wildcats until the final drive resulted in a meaningless touchdown on the final play.

They sacked the quarterback Nicco Marchiol five times, including two by Kenyatta Jackson Jr., and allowed only 53 rushing yards to Chip Kelly’s run-first offense. More alignments with four down linemen were key to the pass rush and the run stops, especially the Wing-T inspired plays Kelly has improvised.

“The four down helps a lot,” Alliegro said. “Brings more pressure on the quarterback. You can create different stunts, you can cage the pocket more. Obviously, they can’t double you as much.”

While the Buckeyes got the result they craved, they understand they still aren’t who they want to be. A common phrase is “it wasn’t perfect.” No football performance ever is. The better phrase would be “it wasn’t excellent.” That’s the standard the Buckeyes chase.

Next week, in another noon kickoff, the Buckeyes will continue to pursue excellence at Nebraska. But in a three-loss season with a longshot chance to play for championships, another gritty win would be a relief.

And normal.