Ohio State WR Drew Up Play for Jeremiah Smith’s National Title-Clinching Catch
Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith made the game-sealing play in the national championship against Notre Dame on a go-route in one-on-one coverage against Irish defensive back Christian Gray.
The play, which came with 2:38 to play on 3rd-and-11, clinched the contest for Ohio State as the Irish gambled and blitzed Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard.
Ohio State star wide receiver Emeka Egbuka called the play on the sideline in between drives late in the contest, as he noticed that the Buckeyes receivers might be able to take advantage of Gray due to the way he was lining up defensively.
” We can run a go-ball on [No.] 29. Look at his splits – go back – look at the inside leverage he has when [Carnell Tate]’s attacking him,” Egbuka said on the sideline alongside his teammates and the offensive staff.
Of course, Ohio State went back to the well on the deep ball on third down and long with the game on the line. Quarterback Will Howard hit Smith on a go route, against Gray, that will live in championship lore in Columbus.
In perhaps one of the funniest turns of events in recent college football history, a golf cart carrying Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, quarterback Will Howard, and linebacker Cody Simon crashed into a wall in the tunnel of Mercedes-Benz Stadium after the Buckeyes defeated the Notre Dame Irish in the College Football Playoff Championship.
Video of the incident quickly circulated online, and since no one was hurt, jokes quickly ensued. During an appearance on The Tonight Show on Monday night, Day even cracked a quip himself, as he joked that the crash brought him “right back down to earth” after his initial winner’s high.
“Well, so again, you’re stressed during the game. You finally take a deep breath. And so we get on the golf cart to go to the press conference and we are just gunning it through the field. I mean, just dodging around people,” Day tells host Jimmy Fallon of the immediate aftermath. “And I’m grabbing on like this. And then we took the corner and hit the wall. And if you look back, Will Howard’s laughing his tail off, and so is Cody Simon. And I’m looking like, ‘You got to be kidding me right now.’ It’s just amazing how you come right back down to earth like 20 minutes after that.”
