Skull Session: Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs Shine in Ohio State’s Big Ten Opener and TreVeyon Henderson Continues to Look Incredible in Pass Protection

By Chase Brown on September 30, 2024 at 5:00 am
Caleb Downs
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

On to the next one...

Have a good Monday.

 HE IS HIM. Jeremiah Smith – as advertised. 

Jeremiah Smith – good at football. 

Jeremiah Smith – great googly moogly.

That all came to mind Saturday as I watched the 6-foot-3, 215-pound freshman record five touches for 102 yards and two touchdowns in Ohio State’s win over Michigan State. 

Yes, Smith came to Columbus as the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2024 class with a reputation as the “best of his generation” from Florida. Somehow, four games into his first college football season, Smith has exceeded the expectations that came with those labels… and then some.

From the season opener to Saturday, Smith has been Ohio State’s best receiver, collecting 19 receptions for 364 yards and five touchdowns as a pass catcher while adding 19 yards and one score as a runner. With numbers like that, it’s not even a stretch to call him one of the best receivers in college football, period.

Well, it’s either him or Ryan Williams, the freshman pass catcher at Alabama.

Like Smith, Williams arrived in Tuscaloosa with massive expectations. Unlike Smith, Williams reclassified from the class of 2025 to 2024. And at 17 years old – a fact Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit really wanted viewers to know on Saturday – Williams torched Georgia’s defense for 177 yards and one touchdown on six catches. He has 16 catches for 462 yards and five scores in four appearances with the Crimson Tide.

Whether Smith or Williams is the best receiver in college football, Day feels good about who he has in his corner.

“He just doesn’t say a word but works his tail off,” Day said of Smith. “His discipline. His humility. He loves being a Buckeye. You can just tell with the way he works with his teammates. He’s coming out of his shell a little bit, too, which is great to see. But, I mean, the talent speaks for itself. I am just impressed with the discipline and the hard work and being able to step in at such a young age. … This is a special young man.”

Smith’s already special, but he can and will get better, his teammate Emeka Egbuka said.

“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,” he said.

Consider me excited.

 THE BEST SAFETY IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL. With all due respect to Malaki Starks (Georgia) and Xavier Watts (Notre Dame), Caleb Downs is the best safety in college football. He sure looked like it on Saturday.

In 39 snaps against Michigan State – tied with Davison Igbinosun and Lathan Ransom for the second-most snaps behind Sonny Styles (42) – Downs collected six tackles (three solo) and one tackle for loss. Those numbers don’t pop off the screen, but make no mistake: The Spartans felt Downs’ presence whenever the 6-foot, 205-pound defensive back took the field.

Here’s one example of the special talent Downs possesses as a 19-year-old sophomore:

That moment came when it seemed like no other Ohio State defender could tackle Michigan State’s quarterback, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends.

“I thought Caleb played great tonight. He showed up in a big way and in a bunch of different spots,” Day said. “You can see the acceleration and how fast he plays. Part of that is his athleticism, but another part is just the way he prepares. I mean, he prepares as hard as anybody on our team. He was all over the place tonight. He made a huge difference.”

Downs is incredible.

I know it. You know it. Day knows it.

So does Nick Saban.

“He’s one of my favorite all-time players,” Saban said on College GameDay. “Absolutely one of my favorite (players). As a freshman, the maturity he showed, the preparation, the way he performed. I loved the guy. He’s a great person.”

That’s some high praise from a seven-time national champion head coach.

 THE POWER OF WILL. Will Howard faced adversity for the first time as Ohio State’s quarterback on Saturday.

On Ohio State’s second drive of the game, Howard and the offense marched 77 yards down the field to the Michigan State 3-yard line. On 3rd-and-3, Howard received a snap from Seth McLaughlin, completed a three-step dropback and targeted Jeremiah Smith in the back of the end zone. One problem: Howard didn’t see Malik Spencer before he threw the football. The Michigan State safety should have intercepted the pass; however, he came down with a case of stone hands. The ball fell to the turf incomplete. 

Howard bounced back with a touchdown pass to Gee Scott Jr. on the next snap.

Ohio State’s third drive of the game started at its own 19-yard line after Jordan Hancock knocked the ball loose from Michigan State tight end Jack Velling. However, after back-to-back handoffs to Quinshon Judkins and an incomplete pass intended for Scott, Howard delivered the ball back to the Spartans, seemingly pressing the wrong button on his controller as he tossed an errant pass to a double-covered Emeka Egbuka. Michigan State cornerback Jordan Turner intercepted the ball and returned it to the Ohio State 12-yard line. The Spartans scored on the next snap via a quick touchdown pass from quarterback Aidan Chiles to wide receiver Jaron Glover.

Howard bounced back with completions of 20 yards to Jeremiah Smith, 3 yards to TreVeyon Henderson, 16 yards to Carnell Tate and 27 yards to Smith on the next possession.

But then, in the final moment of adversity for the fifth-year signal-caller, Howard took a hard shot on an incomplete pass intended for Tate. He exited the game for the rest of the half. (Devin Brown replaced him and connected with Smith for the aforementioned one-handed touchdown pass that broke the internet).

“I just got the wind knocked out of me,” Howard said.

He returned to start the second half and led Ohio State’s offense on two touchdown drives to put the game out of reach. The first was a 33-yard strike to Emeka Egbuka on 4th-and-5. The second was a 6-yard keeper on a well-designed, well-executed midline option.

In other words, Howard bounced back.

Each time Howard faced adversity on Saturday, he bounced back.

That’s a great sign for the Buckeyes.

“We were harping the whole week that when you go on the road, especially in the Big Ten, and this is our first away game of the season, there’s gonna be adversity that strikes. It comes in different forms. It happened to be an interception early in the game, and Will was able to bounce back from it,” Egbuka said. “This is something we knew he would be able to do, being a fifth-year senior, having that experience under his belt, and knowing that you know mistakes don’t define you and coming back and making a statement later in the game.”

Day shared a similar sentiment to his star receiver.

“When you’re learning a new offense, there’s gonna be some of these growing pains,” he said. “But overall, he was solid. He was poised. He made some big, big throws and had a couple of tough runs in there. You can see what a difference it makes when you have somebody who runs.”

 TREVEYON HENDERSON, ALL-PURPOSE BACK. Before the Monday Skull Session ends, I need to mention Henderson and his incredible work in pass protection this season.

We all remember Henderson’s pancake in the season opener…

… but the veteran ballcarrier added another pair of crucial blocks for the Buckeyes on Saturday, allowing Brown to connect with Smith for a touchdown in the second quarter and Howard to connect with Egbuka for a touchdown in the third quarter.

“He had some great pickups, huge picks,” Day said of Henderson. “The one on the touchdown to Jeremiah and the touchdown to Emeka. And there were a couple more. He did a really nice job coming across – I have to watch the film, but there’s like three in particular – he came across and picked up some corner fires and did a nice job. That was big. He’s becoming that all-purpose back that we all know he can be.”

Henderson and Judkins also answered the bell in the run game. Against Michigan State’s No. 29-ranked run defense (96.8 yards allowed per game), the best running back duo in college football combined for 113 yards on 18 attempts. Add in James Peoples’ 10 attempts for 29 yards, Smith’s one attempt for 19 yards and Howard’s six attempts for 14 yards, and Ohio State recorded 185 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 35 carries.

“I thought they ran hard,” Day said. “I think where we are right now is we’re making progress (in the run game), but we’ve got a long way to go. Our guys have that mindset. It was good to get this win on the road – first road win, good environment – but there are bigger challenges ahead. We have to get on this film and stay hungry and keep this journey going. … We know we have a really good Iowa team coming in here next week.”

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Carmen Ohio" - TBDBITL.

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