Three Ohio State freshmen accomplished firsts in the tight 21-17 victory over Nebraska. Jaylen McClain made his first career start at strong safety, Eddrick Houston played defensive tackle in the base defense for the first time and Jeremiah Smith became the first Buckeye to score a receiving touchdown in seven straight games to start a season.
McClain didn't record a tackle against the Cornhuskers, but he did record the first pass breakup of his young career. During Nebraska's first drive of the second half, the Huskers had 1st-and-10 at their own 29-yard line. Dylan Raiola tried to connect with Jahmal Banks, but McClain made a great break and swatted the ball away from Banks as both players were in mid-air.
Nice pass break-up from Ohio State true freshman safety Jaylen McClain, who makes a good play on a pass to Nebraska WR Jahmal Banks here early in the third quarter. pic.twitter.com/UhRpklVRxR
— Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom) October 26, 2024
The West Orange, New Jersey native finished the game with 14 defensive snaps and was used on the kickoff, kickoff return, punt and punt return units.
Our observant and eagle-eyed Dan Hope spotted Houston at defensive tackle at the 8:21 mark of the second quarter. The Buford, Georgia native partnered with Hero Kanu on the interior of the line on the first two snaps of a three-and-out for the Buckeyes defense. He finished the game with a total of five snaps, all at DT.
Houston made his fifth game appearance of the season and is now ineligible to redshirt.
Smith tied his career lows in receptions (three) and receiving yards (70) as his stat line against Nebraska was identical to his performance against Marshall in Week 3. Sandwiched between a pair of 5-yard catches in the first and third quarters was Smith's 60-yard touchdown strike with 8:21 to play in the first half.
Will Howard hits Jeremiah Smith in stride for a 60-yard touchdown pic.twitter.com/SY6zbMKFhy
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 26, 2024
The much-needed score appeared to inject life into Ohio State's offense, but the momentum shift was short-lived as the Buckeyes' offense only scored one more time against the Cornhuskers in the closer-than-expected victory.
Smith has now tied Cris Carter for the most touchdown catches by a freshman in program history. He needs only 26 yards to surpass Carter for the most receiving yards for an Ohio State freshman.
| PLAYER | REC | YARDS | TD | LONG | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremiah Smith | 35 | 623 | 8 | 70 | 17.8 |
| Cris Carter | 25 | 325 | 4 | 36 | 13.0 |
| David Boston | 12 | 217 | 4 | 58 | 18.1 |
| Devin Smith | 9 | 187 | 3 | 36 | 20.8 |
| Carnell Tate | 11 | 183 | 1 | 55 | 16.6 |
Smith's 35 receptions are six shy of tying Carter's freshman record of 41 catches that he set in 1984.
In next weekend’s game against Penn State, Smith could also tie TreVeyon Henderson's Ohio State freshman record with eight consecutive games with a touchdown (receiving or rushing) to start the season.
The freshman freak is not only chasing and creating Ohio State records, he’s also doing things that have rarely been done across the entire nation. He is the first FBS freshman since South Carolina’s Sidney Rice (2005) to have a receiving touchdown in each of the first seven games to start a season.
Jeremiah Smith continues his streak of rec TDs pic.twitter.com/YcCr6gTmfJ
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 26, 2024
Under the NCAA's redshirt rules, a player can appear in up to four games during the regular season – plus play in any postseason games – and still count it as his redshirt year. Seven games into the season, 17 Ohio State freshmen have played in at least one game, with six freshmen – Houston, McClain, Peoples, Pierce, Scott and Smith – now ineligible for a redshirt as they have played in five or more games.
| NAME | POS | DEBUT | NEBRASKA STATS | GP | SEASON STATS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JAYLEN McCLAIN | S | Akron | 1 PBU | 7 | 8 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PBU |
| JEREMIAH SMITH | WR | Akron | 3 catches, 70 yards, 1 TD | 7 | 35 catches, 623 yards, 8 TD; 2 carries, 33 yards, 1 TD |
| EDDRICK HOUSTON | DE | Akron | Played at DT and DE | 5 | 1 tackle, 2 PBU |
| JAMES PEOPLES | RB | Akron | 5 | 35 carries, 153 yards, 2 TD; 1 catch, -2 yards | |
| PAYTON PIERCE | LB | Akron | 5 | 1 tackle | |
| AARON SCOTT JR. | CB | Akron | 5 | 1 PBU | |
| ERIC MENSAH | DT | Akron | 3 | 4 defensive snaps | |
| DOMINIC KIRKS | DE | Akron | 2 | 5 defensive snaps | |
| NICK McLARTY | P | WMU | 2 | 2 punts, 32.5 average | |
| JULIAN SAYIN | QB | WMU | 2 | 5-7, 84 yards, 1 TD; 1 carry, 5 yards | |
| GARRETT STOVER | LB | Akron | 2 | Special teams | |
| SAM WILLIAMS-DIXON | RB | Akron | 2 | 4 carries, 44 yards | |
| MYLAN GRAHAM | WR | WMU | 1 | 4 offensive snaps | |
| MAX LeBLANC | TE | WMU | 1 | 5 offensive snaps | |
| IAN MOORE | OT | WMU | 1 | 5 offensive snaps | |
| BRYCE WEST | CB | WMU | 1 | Special teams | |
| DORIAN WILLIAMS | WR | WMU | 1 | Special teams | |
| DEONTAE ARMSTRONG | OL | ||||
| DEVONTAE ARMSTRONG | OL | ||||
| MILES LOCKHART | CB | ||||
| AIR NOLAND | QB | ||||
| LEROY ROKER | S | ||||
| GABE VANSICKLE | OL | ||||
| DAMARION WITTEN | WR |
(Note: The table does not include freshman walk-ons who have not yet played.)
- #4 Ohio State 21, Nebraska 17
- • Buckeyes Survive Nebraska's Upset Bid
- • This Time, the Defense Gets It Done
- • Offensive Line Struggles Without Simmons
- • Arvell Reese Ejected for Targeting
- • Ohio State Postgame • Nebraska Postgame • Photos • After Carmen
- • Five Things • Notebook • Social Reax • Three Key Stats
