Eight of Ohio State's 15 freshmen who made the trip to Chicago saw playing time during the Buckeyes' 31-7 win over Northwestern at Wrigley Field.
In the first quarter, it appeared Jeremiah Smith made another Jeremiah Smith-type play. Borrowing from an old NFL segment, let's play You Make The Call:
Ruled not a catch, but HOLY Jeremiah Smith pic.twitter.com/4Ic1HG9duv
— Anand Nanduri (@NanduriNFL) November 16, 2024
| PLAYER | REC | YARDS | TD | LONG | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremiah Smith | 49 | 865 | 9 | 70 | 17.7 |
| Cris Carter | 30 | 442 | 7 | 44 | 14.7 |
| David Boston | 28 | 422 | 5 | 58 | 15.1 |
| Carnell Tate | 16 | 254 | 1 | 55 | 15.9 |
| Devin Smith | 11 | 241 | 4 | 40 | 21.9 |
For many biased eyes watching the game, it was hard to believe this effort didn't stand as a touchdown. Even with the spectacular catch being overruled by replay, Smith still finished the day with four catches for 100 yards.
He is now the first freshman in school history to have three 100-yard receiving games. Smith and Cris Carter – who had two in 1984 – are the only Ohio State freshmen with multiple 100-yard receiving games.
One of Smith's four catches was this great 68-yard grab-and-go during Ohio State's opening drive of the second half.
If Ohio State is playing a football game, chances are good Jeremiah Smith will make a spectacular play. pic.twitter.com/KJPvQl1DT0
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) November 16, 2024
Two plays later, Will Howard connected with Carnell Tate for Tate's second touchdown of the game to give Ohio State a 28-7 lead.
Smith is now 135 yards away from reaching 1,000 receiving yards for the season. If he reaches this milestone, it will be the 11th time an Ohio State player has accomplished this impressive feat.
With 865 receiving yards, Smith already has more receiving yards through 10 games than four Ohio State receivers who went on top 1,000 yards. Compared to Ohio State’s past 1,000-yard receivers, Smith has the fourth-highest average yards per catch (17.7) and the fifth-most touchdowns (nine) through 10 games.
| SEASON | PLAYER | REC | YARDS | TD | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Terry Glenn | 48 | 1,141 | 15 | 23.8 |
| 1998 | David Boston | 64 | 1,113 | 11 | 17.4 |
| 2023 | Marvin Harrison Jr. | 59 | 1,063 | 12 | 18.0 |
| 2021 | Jaxon Smith-Njigba | 59 | 1,027 | 5 | 17.4 |
| 2022 | Marvin Harrison Jr. | 60 | 969 | 11 | 16.2 |
| 1986 | Cris Carter | 51 | 879 | 8 | 17.2 |
| 2024 | Jeremiah Smith | 49 | 865 | 9 | 17.7 |
| 2022 | Emeka Egbuka | 51 | 832 | 8 | 16.3 |
| 2021 | Garrett Wilson | 53 | 813 | 9 | 15.3 |
| 2002 | Michael Jenkins | 42 | 746 | 4 | 17.8 |
| 2018 | Parris Campbell | 62 | 673 | 9 | 10.9 |
The end of Smith’s 68-yard catch left some cause for concern as he suffered an apparent ankle injury while being tackled, but he returned to the game on Ohio State’s next drive.
Jeremiah Smith came up limping on this play, had to get his ankle taped up more.
— Adam King (@AdamKing10TV) November 16, 2024
He has since been limping on the sidelines, absolutely ridiculous that this kind of play would happen.
pic.twitter.com/PJMZ33XC7S
Stat Book Stuffers
James Peoples had more than three carries for the first time since the Michigan State game. The San Antonio native was in the game for four plays and carried the ball four times against Northwestern. The last three plays of the game were runs by Peoples. He finished the day with 26 yards, and his last carry closed out the game with his career-high run of 18 yards.
Bryce West saw action for the second consecutive game. Against Northwestern, he was on the field for the kickoff coverage team, 11 defensive snaps and recorded his first collegiate tackle. Late in the fourth quarter, West assisted on the stop of Northwestern's Thomas Gordon after the tight end made a 12-yard catch on 3rd-and-20.
Jaylen McClain has played in every game this season, and against the Wildcats, he played 17 defensive snaps and racked up a career-high three tackles. He was deployed on Ohio State's special teams and for the eighth time this season, McClain saw time on the defensive side of the ball.
Eddrick Houston played at defensive tackle for a fourth straight game while OT Ian Moore and TE Max LeBlanc saw action in consecutive games for the first time in their young careers. Payton Pierce was on the kickoff coverage team.
Freshmen who made the trip but did not play were Julian Sayin, Sam Williams-Dixon, Mylan Graham, Gabe VanSickle, Garrett Stover, Leroy Roker III and Nick McLarty.
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. Ten games into the season, 19 Ohio State freshmen have played in at least one game, with six freshmen – Houston, McClain, Peoples, Pierce, Scott Jr. and Smith – ineligible for a redshirt as they have all played in more than five games.
| NAME | POS | DEBUT | NORTHWESTERN STATS | GP | SEASON STATS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JAYLEN McCLAIN | S | Akron | 3 tackles | 10 | 11 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PBU |
| JEREMIAH SMITH | WR | Akron | 4 catches, 100 yards; 1 carry, 2 yards | 10 | 49 catches, 865 yards, 9 TD; 3 carries, 35 yards, 1 TD |
| EDDRICK HOUSTON | DE | Akron | 16 defensive snaps | 8 | 4 tackles, 2 PBU |
| JAMES PEOPLES | RB | Akron | 4 carries, 26 yards | 7 | 42 carries, 195 yards, 2 TD; 1 catch, -2 yards |
| PAYTON PIERCE | LB | Akron | Special teams | 7 | 3 tackles |
| MAX LeBLANC | TE | WMU | 1 offensive snap | 3 | 11 offensive snaps |
| IAN MOORE | OT | WMU | 3 offensive snaps | 3 | 22 offensive snaps |
| BRYCE WEST | CB | WMU | 1 tackle | 3 | 1 tackle |
| AARON SCOTT JR. | CB | Akron | 6 | 1 tackle, 1 PBU | |
| DOMINIC KIRKS | DE | Akron | 3 | 1 tackle | |
| JULIAN SAYIN | QB | WMU | 3 | 5-11, 84 yards, 1 TD; 2 carries, 24 yards | |
| ERIC MENSAH | DT | Akron | 3 | 7 defensive snaps | |
| GARRETT STOVER | LB | Akron | 3 | 1 defensive snap | |
| SAM WILLIAMS-DIXON | RB | Akron | 3 | 7 carries, 60 yards | |
| MYLAN GRAHAM | WR | WMU | 2 | 6 offensive snaps | |
| NICK McLARTY | P | WMU | 2 | 2 punts, 32.5 average | |
| LEROY ROKER | S | Purdue | 1 | Special teams | |
| DORIAN WILLIAMS | WR | WMU | 1 | Special teams | |
| DAMARION WITTEN | WR | Purdue | 1 | 1 offensive snap | |
| DEONTAE ARMSTRONG | OL | ||||
| DEVONTAE ARMSTRONG | OL | ||||
| MILES LOCKHART | CB | ||||
| AIR NOLAND | QB | ||||
| GABE VANSICKLE | OL |
(Note: The table does not include freshman walk-ons who have not yet played.)
- #2 Ohio State 31, Northwestern 7
- • Buckeyes Bash Wildcats, 31-7
- • Tate Shines in Emotional Homecoming
- • Styles Starting to Star
- • GameDay Headed to Ohio State-Indiana
- • Ohio State Postgame • Northwestern Postgame • Photos • After Carmen
- • Five Things • Notebook • Social Reax • Three Key Stats
