Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, right, catches a pass for a first down against Michigan State defensive back Malik Spencer (43) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in East Lansing, Mich.
AP Photo | Al Goldis
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Coaches talk a lot about playing hard for 60 minutes in a college football game.
But sometimes a minute or two or three can change the whole trajectory of a game, as Ohio State’s 38-7 win over Michigan State on Saturday night showed.
The No. 3 Buckeyes (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) had a 17-7 lead with a few seconds over a minute left in the first half when they began their final offensive possession of that half. It was a lead that was approaching being comfortable but certainly wasn’t insurmountable.
But then Jeremiah Smith did Jeremiah Smith things twice, backup quarterback Devin Brown played his relief pitcher’s role perfectly after starting quarterback Will Howard had to come out of the game after having the wind knocked out of him and all of a sudden Ohio State had a 24-7 lead at halftime.
When the Buckeyes added another touchdown on a 33-yard pass from Howard to Emeka Egbuka on their first possession of the second half, the game was clearly in their hands.
Smith’s two-of-a-kind catches were both of the one-handed variety. The first went for 27 yards on a throw from Howard to move the ball to Michigan State’s 17-yard line. The other was a 17-yard touchdown connection with Brown.
“There were just some tremendous plays. The play by Jeremiah, Devin stepped up in a big way, What an unbelievable catch (by Smith). I couldn’t believe he caught it,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said.
Day said the touchdown at the end of the first half and scoring another early in the second half “kind of turned the game.”
Howard said, “I think that was the game right there. We talk about winning the middle eight (minutes), the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half. I thought Devin did an unbelievable job of being ready when his number was called.
“I really think that throw and that catch that those two made really sealed the game,” he said.
Michigan State dropped to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten with the loss.
Howard completed 21 of 31 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns. Egbuka had 7 catches for 96 yards and a touchdown and Smith had 6 catches for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Asked about Smith, Egbuka said, “He has all the intangibles you would want in a prototypical receiver. Obviously, he’s tall, he’s fast, he’s strong, all those things. He doesn’t necessarily have to listen to everything I say or Coach Hart (receivers coach Brian Hartline) says but he takes in all this knowledge and applies it on the field. He’s really going to turn into something special. So Buckeyes fans can be excited for these next few years.”
Smith was obviously excited by his catches but he found LeBron James tweeting about his catches exciting, too.
“It means a lot. It’s pretty cool,” he said.
OSU scored first on a 30-yard field goal by Jayden Fielding after its opening drive stalled out at the 13-yard line.
The Buckeyes’ defense stopped Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles for no gain on a 4th-and-1 at the 20-yard line on Michigan State’s first offensive possession and OSU’s offense drove 71 yards on 11 plays, which ended with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Gee Scott Jr. for a 10-0 lead.
At that point, it looked like Ohio State might be on its way to a fourth straight blowout.
But a turnover took that possibility off the table at least for a while.
MSU’s Jordan Turner intercepted a Howard pass at OSU’s 48-yard line five minutes into the second quarter and returned it to the 12-yard line.
One play later Chiles threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jaron Glover that cut Ohio State’s lead to 10-7 with 9:41 left in the first half.
Two touchdowns in the final 7:22 of the first half sent Ohio State to the locker room with a 24-7 lead at halftime.
Egbuka’s touchdown catch made it 31-7 and a 6-yard touchdown run by Howard raised the lead to 38-7 with 2:05 left in the third quarter.
