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ATLANTA — It was third-and-11 with the College Football Playoff National Championship in the balance, and Ohio State had twice fecklessly run into the teeth of a Notre Dame defense that was trying desperately to get off of the field. Someone had to make a play, and on this Ohio State team who else would you expect to be called upon in a moment like this but freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith.
He had not seen the ball the entire second half, but lined up opposite excellent cornerback Christian Gray playing off coverage, Smith made room to work, and 45 yards later after a connection with Will Howard, he put the Buckeyes on the doorstep of sealing their ninth national championship (34-23 was the final after the drive ended with a late field goal).
“He was biting on anything that we were doing all game at him, so I just knew if I stick and run past him I’d be open,” Smith said on the field after the game.
Gray lined up inside and eight yards away from Smith at the snap, and Smith took off from the line of scrimmage running directly at him. As Gray retreated, he opened his hips toward the sideline to try and give chase, but he had in turn invited Smith to run to green grass. Howard had all the room he needed to throw the ball into open space to the player he called a “generational talent” in a postgame interview with ESPN. Notre Dame’s blitz wasn’t able to get home, and the gamble the Irish made leaving Grey on an island didn’t pay off.
“I knew the ball was coming my way,” Smith said with ski goggles on in a smoke-filled postgame locker room. “They were playing one-high, and the safety was shading over [to the opposite side of the field], and I knew Will was throwing that ball. “‘Just catch it. Just catch that ball.’ I didn’t care…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/jeremiah-smiths-all-time-freshman-season-ends-with-title-clinching-catch-now-he-enters-new-realm-of-stardom/
Author : Richard Johnson
Publish date : 2025-01-21 07:25:00
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