The Oregon Ducks escaped with a win over the Ohio State Buckeyes earlier this season in a game that had some controversial calls. Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith called the infamous offensive pass interference penalty a “crazy call.”
The Oregon Ducks and Ohio State Buckeyes are set for a monstrous rematch at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday with a trip to the College Football Playoff semifinals on the line.
In their first meeting on Oct. 12 in Eugene, Oregon escaped with a thrilling 32-31 win in what was one of the best games of the regular season. If only a few plays had gone differently in that game, these two teams would likely have had vastly different CFP paths. Instead, it’s Oregon that has a Big Ten Championship and No. 1 seed to its name.
One of these plays — which was met with some controversy — happened on the final possession of the game when Ohio State was looking to put together a game-winning drive down by one. With 22 seconds to play, Ohio State quarterback Will Howard found star freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith for a completion that put the Buckeyes well within game-winning field-goal range at the Oregon 21-yard.
However, Smith was called for an offensive pass interference penalty, which set Ohio State back to the Ducks’ 43-yard line. Smith spoke with the media ahead of the Rose Bowl and admitted he still thinks about that penalty, even calling it a “crazy call.”
“I think about that call probably every day,” Smith said. “It was a crazy call. The DB was holding me; I just cleared his hands. I guess receivers can’t be physical in football anymore, but DBs could hold 10 yards, 15 yards down the field. It’s behind me. I know the move from here on out when the DB is grabbing me. I guess you can’t be physical as a receiver in college football anymore. We’ll just see how things play out in this game.”
Three plays later, Howard scrambled up the middle as the clock ran out on a play that will live in the minds of Ohio State fans forever if they come up short to Oregon once again.
Already speaking like a seasoned vet, Smith certainly plays like one, too. Headed into the Rose Bowl, he’s tallied 63 catches for 1,037 yards and 12 touchdowns this season. In that loss to Oregon, he finished with nine catches for 100 yards and a score.
Fortunately for the Buckeyes, they still have a direct path to the National Championship despite that loss to Oregon along with suffering an embarrassing defeat to Michigan in the regular-season finale.
The Ducks will look to bring more heartbreak to Columbus when the Rose Bowl kicks off at 2 p.m. PT on New Year’s Day.
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