Peace, or another touchdown?….Freshman Jeremiah Smith gives the sign for one of his two touchdown catches in Saturday’s win over Michigan State. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
Jeremiah Smith’s ability to catch footballs was well known before Saturday night. But his work against Michigan State raised his level of play and pushed his team toward an expected victory.
East Lansing, MI – Jeremiah Smith showed the nation Saturday night what great talents always do. That sooner or later players like him make indelible plays.
And he did it with one hand.
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Twice in the space of three plays, Smith made one-handed catches that changed everything everybody was feeling about the way Ohio State was playing against Michigan State. And the freshman phenom, the touchdown waiting to happen, put Michigan State cornerback Ed Woods on highlight reels and in photos he wants to burn.
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With time running out in the first half and the No. 3 Buckeyes leading by 10, Smith’s first highlight came on a 27-yard catch to the Spartans’ 17. Will Howard’s throw into double coverage looked risky, but the throw was high enough for Smith to rise above Woods and Malik Spencer for a one-handed grab.
Smith said that was his favorite play. But the next one was everyone else’s favorite.
On the in-between play, Howard threw incomplete and had the breath knocked out of him. He was helped off the field, and Devin Brown was ready for the next snap.
Smith broke off the line straight up the right sideline past Woods’ press coverage, Brown fired a laser in front of the safety, and Smith reached as far as humanly possible, snatched the ball out of the air, pulled it in, took two more steps into the end zone and flashed the peace sign.
“I couldn’t believe he caught it,” said Ryan Day. “What an unbelievable catch.”
“Devin stepped up in a big way and delivered that throw,” head coach Ryan Day said. “But what an unbelievable catch. I couldn’t believe he caught it.”
With a 17-point lead in hand at halftime, the unbeaten Buckeyes had finally gained a measure of control and eased concerns that this might be a close game into the fourth quarter. Then, as expected all along, they scored to start the second half, turned the fourth quarter into a showcase for backups and rolled to a 38-7 Big Ten victory.
Smith wasn’t as impressed with his touchdown as everyone else.
“Devin just threw a great ball, and I had to make a play,” he said.
Howard loved how Brown seized the moment.
“Devin did an unbelievable job of being ready when his number was called, and that’s the competitive excellence we talk about all the time,” Howard said. “That throw and that catch that those two made really sealed the game.”
That score coupled with a sudden turning of the tide by the Ohio State defense came in what the Buckeyes call the middle eight – the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half. And when Howard threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Emeka Egbuka in the third quarter for a 31-7 lead, the middle eight had stood up to the Spartans’ upset hopes.
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Day talks every week about the importance of good depth this season because the 12-team playoff means the potential of 16 or 17 games. Brown being ready for the moment impressed the coach.
“It was clutch play,” Day said. “We told him if you have the opportunity to throw it, rip it. Only throw it where the receiver can catch it.”
TreVeyon Henderson was the leading rusher and delivered this highlight hurdle of a tackler in the first quarter.
Smith has five receiving touchdowns and six overall in his first four games to go with 364 yards. He is threatening every Ohio State freshman receiving record.
“He has all the intangibles that you would want in a prototypical receiver,” Egbuka said. “Obviously, he’s tall, he’s fast and strong, but just his ability to seek knowledge and want to be able to learn. As his knowledge grows and his game expands, he’s really going to turn into something special. So Buckeye fans can be excited for these next few years.”
Smith made the memorable plays, but the rest of the offense made big plays, too.
Egbuka caught seven passes for 96 yards. His touchdown came on fourth-and-5. And tight end Gee Scott’s three-yard touchdown catch that made the score 10-0 came on fourth-and-goal.
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“The trust that our coaching staff has to be able to go for it on fourth down and not kick the field goal says a lot about this team,” Egbuka said.
Howard completed his first nine passes and finished 21 of 31 for 244 yards. The big pass plays overshadowed the running game that produced 120 yards in the first half on eight yards a carry and finished with 185.
Emeka Egbuka steps into the end zone on a fourth down conversion attempt in the third quarter.
No rusher had a huge night. TreVeyon Henderson rushed for 69 yards on seven carries, but he will be most remembered by Day for the blitz pickups he made on Smith’s one-handed touchdown catch and Egbuka’s fourth-down touchdown catch.
Ohio State’s execution on fourth down and in key situations also points to more creative, even deceptive, play calling than in the recent past. New offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has everything to do with it.
“There’s collaboration, but Chip’s got a great feel for it, for the game, and calling the plays,” Day said. “It’s a balance of making sure that you have your fastballs where you’re running down hill and you feel really good about it but having enough curveballs that we can create explosive plays.”
While the offense purred, the defense had a rough first quarter and a half, giving up first downs to wide-open receivers, allowing too much on first down and overall looking tentative. They did get some breaks with two fumble recoveries in the first half and fourth-down stop.
Linebacker Cody Simon stopped quarterback Aidan Chile’ sneak over the top on fourth-and-1 at the Ohio State 20 when the Buckeyes led 3-0.
“Everyone did their job, and it was great play,” Simon said. “I’m excited for my guys for stepping up and making plays to allow me to make plays, too.”
Jordan Hancock forced a fumble on a long pass play that Sonny Styles recovered and returned eight yards to the Buckeyes’ 19. That play allowed the Buckeyes to maintain a 10-0 lead.
With the score 17-7, Lathan Ransom forced a fumble that Jack Sawyer recovered to stop another drive. But it wasn’t until late in the half that the defense got nasty. J.T. Tuimoloau sacked Chiles and safety Caleb Downs blew up a screen pass to force a punt. That quick stop set up Smith’s touchdown catch.
Safety Caleb Downs puts the lock down on MSU running back Nathan Carter.
The second half was more of the same for the defense. After allowing 186 yards in the first half, the defense held the Spartans to 60 in the second half and added three more sacks.
“We wanted to be more aggressive, more violent, more assertive, especially the second half, and we came out with that intent,” Simon said. “We haven’t played a perfect game yet. That’s what’s exciting about it because we can really put it all together and then be something real special.”
Downs, the sophomore transfer from Alabama, already wears the special label. He shared the team lead with six tackles, had one for loss and came up hard in run support.
“Caleb played great tonight and showed up in a big way in a bunch of different spots,” Day said. “You can just see the acceleration, how fast he plays. Part of that is his athleticism, but another part is just the way he prepares.”
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Hancock says Downs is a stabilizing force and a coach on the field.
“There’s a lot of questions that I ask and continue to grow under him,” Hancock said. “He just feels like a whole different coach on the field, and that’s exactly what we need in our secondary.”
Carnell Tate leaves a Spartan tackler in his wake during this catch and run in the first quarter.
The Buckeyes also needed some adversity after opening at home against three teams they beat as handily as they were supposed to. A first Big Ten game on the road at night against a one-loss team has inherent challenges. Then some early struggles on defense, an opening drive that stalled its way into a field goal and a Howard interception added some nervousness not previously felt this season.
“We were kind of harping on it all week – when you go on the road, especially in the Big 10, there’s going to be adversity that strikes,” Egbuka said. “It comes in different forms. Mistakes don’t define you.”
Howard said it best about bouncing back from the interception he knew was a rushed, bad decision.
“Mental toughness is your ability to move on to the next, most important thing,” he said. “And I think we did a good job with that.”
And with one-handed catches.
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