IOWA CITY, Iowa— As Ohio State’s offense took the field in the middle of the third quarter Saturday for its eighth drive, the Buckeyes held an 11-point lead over the Iowa Hawkeyes. The two offenses had combined for 80 snaps and just 23 points.
Ohio State at that point had two plays of 20–plus yards, the highlight a 54-yard catch and run by Jeremiah Smith that Julian Sayin had ripped, perhaps ill-advisedly, between a trio of defenders on the first play of the second quarter.
In a tight game still in the balance, it was a choice that made you catch your breath. In the soft glow of postgame victory, it was prime fodder for a chuckle.
“What I didn’t figure was that Julian was going to throw the ball in triple coverage and (Smith) was still going to catch it for a big play,” Ryan Day said in the first 30 seconds of his postgame news conference across the hall from a celebratory OSU locker room. “That was not a great read, but a ridiculous throw and ridiculous catch.”
Asked later about his play throwing into triple coverage, Sayin responded with, “Which one?”
These guys!