Three Stars of the Game: TreVeyon Henderson, Jeremiah Smith and JT Tuimoloau Earn Top Honors for Their Performances Against Purdue

In Ohio State's win over Purdue, the Eleven Warriors staff thinks three Buckeyes stood out above the rest as we named running back TreVeyon Henderson, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and defensive end JT Tuimoloau as our Three Stars of the Game.

First Star: TreVeyon Henderson

TreVeyon Henderson averaged 14.2 yards per touch on Saturday.

Is that good?

The senior captain carried the ball six times for 85 yards and one touchdown and added three catches for 43 yards as a receiver out of the backfield. Henderson had carries of 12, 6, 16, 3, 29 and 19 yards in the contest. His catches went for 6, 5 and 32 yards.

Treveyon Henderson to the house @ohiostatefb adds on another in the second half

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Henderson's performance stands out in an otherwise OK afternoon for Ohio State's ballcarriers. His running mate, Quinshon Judkins, collected 32 yards on 11 carries, while backups James Peoples and Sam Williams-Dixon combined for 21 yards on six carries. The Buckeyes' other rushers included Julian Sayin (one attempt, 19 yards), Howard (nine attempts, 7 yards) and Devin Brown (two attempts, 3 yards).

Second Star: Jeremiah Smith

Smith is a record-breaker.

With a six-catch, 87-yard, one-touchdown performance on Saturday, Smith took sole possession of three freshman receiving records, surpassing Cris Carter for the lead in receptions, yards and touchdowns in a single season for a first-year Buckeye.

JEREMIAH SMITH FOR THE TD

There's just no catching the @OhioStatefb True Freshman

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"It means a lot. It's a blessing to be able to break Cris Carter's freshman records," Smith said. "But we have to keep it going. It don't stop here."

In nine appearances (and nine starts) for Ohio State, Smith has collected 45 receptions for 761 yards and nine touchdowns. He leads the team in yards and touchdowns but trails teammate Emeka Egbuka in receptions. The 18-year-old is not far off, however, as Egbuka has 47 catches for the Buckeyes this season.

Will Howard said he's not surprised Smith broke Carter's freshman records. He's also not surprised Smith has become Ohio State's top weapon on offense.

"I think he's the best receiver in the country," Howard said. "I think we have the three best receivers in the country on our team. Obviously, I'm biased, but I'm lucky to have guys like that doing what they're doing. I knew Jeremiah was going to be special from the first time I met him. He's just continued to get better and better. He's a great kid. I'm really happy for him getting that record today."

Third Star: JT Tuimoloau

The staff debated whether to choose Tuimoloau or Jack Sawyer here. We think both deserved a nod; however, Tuimoloau's box score was too hard to overlook, as the senior defensive end had four tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sack, one pass breakup and one forced fumble that led to Sawyer's scoop-and-score touchdown.

“I thought JT and Jack were both very disruptive. Certainly, the forced fumble and scoop and score was the epitome of that in this game. It starts up front. Tyleik (Williams) was available and could have played, but we felt like we were gonna hold him unless we really needed him. We plan on getting him back for next week, full go," he said. "But it was good to see some other guys step up and have to get in there and play. It was everybody across the board. The DBs were solid in coverage. … Three sacks, you get in the backfield, that makes a big difference.”

Sawyer doesn't know we picked Tuimoloau over him — nor will he ever know, if we had to guess. Either way, we have a feeling he wouldn't care. He's probably just happy he and Tuimoloau were able to team up for a defensive score on Saturday.

"It was special," Sawyer said of the scoop and score. "Just give all the credit and the glory to God, and we're thankful to be in this position he's put us in. When I'm coming around the edge, I see JT punch it out, I said it downstairs, there's no chance in hell I was diving on that ball. I was trying to scoop and score it no matter what. So it's a special play."

As the season continues, we’re tracking the stars (or points) each Ohio State player receives in 2024. Here's how we'll do it: Each time a Buckeye earns the first star of the game, that Buckeye adds three points to their season total. Then, the second star and third star add two points and one point to their totals.