NORMAN, Okla. — Noah Brown waited a full season and then some for this moment. The time and place where he would fully announce himself to the college football world.
He did that on Saturday night in Ohio State's 45-24 stomping of the Oklahoma Sooners, catching five passes for 72 yards and four touchdowns. Just over a year removed from breaking his leg in training camp and missing the entirety of the 2015 football season, Brown made his presence felt early and often on Ohio State's offense.
“It was definitely a tough injury going down so close to the first game but my teammates really had my back and supported me, helped me get back to where I am right now. I feel like I owed it to them to come out here and play well when my number is called. I love my teammates to death and I’m glad to be back with them.”
His teammates are glad he is back healthy once again and more than ready to show what the offense missed as he stood on the sideline and Ohio State's passing game lurched its way to inconsistency and poor statistics last season. Brown owned Oklahoma's cornerbacks all game in the red zone, proving to be the mismatch was the difference in Ohio State's convincing victory.
“I didn't even realize it until we broke down the team that he had four touchdowns," Urban Meyer said. “Sometimes good things happen to good people and he's a good person that went through an extremely tough injury. Warms your heart to see him have that kind of experience on the road in a really tough environment.”
Brown's brightest moment came when he pinned the football against Oklahoma defensive back Michiah Quick's back in the end zone to put Ohio State up 34-17 just before halftime. It gave the Buckeyes even more momentum and crushed Oklahoma's spirit just before the break.
“That was crazy. He finally got a chance to showcase what he has too. It was good for him,” Pat Elflein said. “We were expecting him to do that last year. He got cut short of that but its unfortunate but now it's his time to shine.”
“He has that mentality when the ball in in the air, it's his,” J.T. Barrett said. “That's great to have as a wide receiver. It's one of those things you either got it or you don't. Noah, he's gonna have it.”
He had it four times in the game, all coming in the final three quarters. Curtis Samuel opened the scoring on a 36-yard sprint around left end off key blocks by Mike Weber and Parris Campbell in the first quarter. Then Jerome Baker took a tipped Baker Mayfield pass 68 yards to the house in a flash.
Just like that, the scoreboard read 14-0 in favor of Ohio State.
“Honestly, Jalyn Holmes tipped it and I literally looked up and it fell right into my hands. Then I just ran,” Baker said. “The only thought I was having was don't get caught.”
Joe Mixon answered with a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that really wasn't a touchdown because he dropped the ball before he crossed the goal line but it didn't end up mattering in the end. Ohio State ran for 291 yards and Marshon Lattimore intercepted Mayfield in the second quarter. On the next play, Barrett again hit Brown, this time on a 37-yard touchdown strike.
“I think I have a bigger frame, I’m able to box out a little bit and go up and get the ball. I feel like that’s what I was able to do today.”
“They have good DBs and I think they trust their DBs,” Barrett said. “Like how we trust our receivers and our DBs. It was one of those things like 'Who's better?' And then on those plays we just executed them.”
Ohio State did leave room for improvement, however, committing 11 penalties and never fully putting the final death squeeze until near the midway point of the fourth quarter. Oklahoma is a talented team. Ohio State is just better and made the big plays when they mattered most, on both sides of the ball.
“It's very frustrating,” Mayfield said. “The fact that we have three to four drives in the red zone and the first one we missed a field goal. We could've capitalized on the drive and finished out the right way and that just goes to show we need to get better in the red zone.”
“It was very disappointing,” Oklahoma linebacker Jordan Evans said. “Any loss is disappointing. Especially to a good team like them, it just wasn't as fun.”
“My compliments to Coach Meyer,” Stoops said. “They're an outstanding team.”
Ohio State proved it is a force to be reckoned with on a national stage. Though Oklahoma doesn't appear to have the same magic that led it to last year's College Football Playoff, it returned the core from that team expecting the same result this season. Instead, Meyer's inexperienced group left Norman with a convincing win against a top-15 team on the road that should pay dividends in more ways than one in the future. It utilized some extra motivation in the form of backup Sooner quarterback Austin Kendall calling its defense "basic" and claiming Mayfield would "light it up."
“The morale of the team is really good,” Tyquand Lewis said. “That's the thing, we have talent and we have guys that buy into the program. This is what we believe in and they trust the program, they trust the coaches. That's what makes it special.”
“There was no doubt about how much talent we had on this team,” Chris Worley said. “Just time to go out there and play.”
“This was the coming of age game. You took a deep breath and I was watching our guys get on the buses and the plane like 'My God, this is a young team,'” Meyer added. “This is a lot of them their first road experience. I'm very proud of them.”
Ohio State answered a plethora of questions with its three-touchdown victory and enters its off week with a host of positive vibes permeating throughout the program. Rutgers and Big Ten season beckon on the first Saturday in October in two weeks, essentially a brand new season where every team is undefeated.
So while a win against a historically great program on the road does wonders for confidence and its College Football Playoff resume, there are more hills to climb for Ohio State.
“I was pumped about the win but I said to the coaches, my teammates, it's crazy how much better we can get and how much better we can play,” Pat Elflein said. “So we have a good mindset going into the bye week and really focus on getting better.”
“We know what we’re capable of,” Brown added. “We’re not really worried too much of any doubters. We’re 3-0 with a chance to go 4-0 so we’re happy with what we did.”
“As coaches you think about that darn kickoff return and you see some other things that shows your youth,” Meyer said. “We also didn't hustle ourselves to the line of scrimmage and blew timeouts and just some silly things that we need to get cleaned up.”
Meyer and his staff will stress the little things when the team regroups and readies for its next work week. Those situations lead to even bigger wins and championships.
“I think we're in a good place coming into the bye week, and we just want to keep on preparing and getting better,” Barrett said. “We're not where we want to be, obviously. Second half we had struggles on offense, same thing on offense. Even on special teams. We're just continuing to keep on getting better. I think we're at a good place right now and have room for improvement.”
