Ohio State’s passing game found a little extra juice against Maryland, and a pair of tight ends were right in the middle of it.
Luke Roberts stole the spotlight on Saturday with a seam route that turned into a 68-yard touchdown in the Buckeyes’ 45-16 win. Roberts got wide open and Julian Sayin found him for what now stands as the second-longest touchdown pass to a tight end in Ohio State history. The only longer one came in 2012, when Braxton Miller connected with Jake Stoneburner for a 72-yard score against Penn State.
Later in the game, Mason Williams added a 1-yard touchdown catch, giving Ohio State two tight end scores in the same game and showing a passing attack that looks more willing to spread the ball around.
“This is the impact of having Jeremiah Smith - other guys should be running freely open,” a team source said. “The question is whether in these big upcoming games Sayin will be given the time to get the ball to these other receivers. He's been sacked six times in two games and pressured on several others.”
It was not immediately clear when Ohio State last had two tight ends catch touchdowns in the same game, if that had happened before at all.
Roberts said the timing of the breakout couldn’t be much better, especially with Indiana coming up.
"We are getting that momentum going, especially going into a big game like this (at Indiana)," Roberts said. "Just knowing that we can execute like that and show other teams that we're a threat is important.
We're not just going to be run-blocking tight ends. We're a threat in the pass game.
And obviously there were some other routes that we could execute and popped out a little bit more. But those catches from me and Mason were definitely great momentum swings, and especially going into the second half of the season."
One note on that 2012 benchmark: some have not counted the Stoneburner touchdown as a tight end score because he lined up at wide receiver plenty that season. But on that play, he was positioned right next to the right tackle before going out on his route.
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Jeremiah Smith Just Gave Ohio State Fans A New Ranking Debate
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Jeremiah Smith made the cut as the lone active college receiver on the list, which is already a notable honor for a player still early in his career. For Buckeyes fans, it is the kind of recognition that says plenty about how high Smiths ceiling already looks, even if the bigger conversation around where he fits historically is still very much ongoing. [Read more 🡒]