Noah Brown hears the chatter, the worries, the groans. He hears the questions and concerns from fans about Ohio State's lack of a dominant passing game. Projected to be the team's go-to receiver, the redshirt sophomore looked like it and then some when he caught four touchdown passes against the Oklahoma Sooners.
The Buckeyes won 45-24 that night in the third game of the 2016 season. After that victory during which Brown caught five passes for 72 yards to go along with his four trips to the end zone, the wide receiver only had 21 catches and two more scoring grabs over Ohio State's final nine games. Whenever the passing offense needed a big play, it usually came in the form of Curtis Samuel down the field.
Brown is keen to the expectations he established for himself from that big night in Norman. He also knows that fans are curious why he sometimes has been a ghost in the offense since the Buckeyes throttled the Sooners.
“I hear it all the time but I don't pay too much attention to it. I've got to do what I've got to do to help us win the game,” Brown said Thursday at Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Media Day. “Whether or not that involves making a catch or doesn't, that's not my concern. I've got to worry about what I'm supposed to do on each play.”
“Right now I believe we are 11-1 with a chance to play for the national championship, so I'm not frustrated.”– Noah Brown on his role
Urban Meyer speaks often about Brown's horrific injury during 2015 fall camp that cost him the entire season. The broken leg prevented him from working opposite another big-bodied wide receiver in Michael Thomas as the Buckeyes tried to win back-to-back national championships. Meyer reiterated on Thursday how long it takes a player to return from something like that, before adding that Brown is "about back to full speed" from the injury.
So now the focus is getting Brown open where he can make plays against the Clemson Tigers in the Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State's chances to win if it isn't balanced are slim and though the Buckeyes are and will always be a power running team first, the passing game desperately needs to take a step forward in the month prior to the matchup.
Enter Brown.
“We have to target him a little bit more, he has to separate a little bit better, and we have to protect the quarterback,” Meyer said. “It's not one thing or we would fix the one thing.”
Brown doesn't possess the blazing speed of someone like Samuel and is working to get better at his route running like Thomas, who was and still is a technician in that part of the game as he catches passes from Drew Brees on the New Orleans Saints. He and J.T. Barrett had success that night in Norman because the Sooners kept playing single coverage on the outside and Brown is exceptional at using his 6-foot-2, 220-pound frame and what the quarterback calls "suction cup-like hands."
“Once he had that big game, I think people took notice,” offensive coordinator Ed Warinner said. “Very seldom does he get straight no-help, man-to-man coverage because if you do I imagine he could have a big game. If you keep a couple of people around a wide receiver, then I imagine you are worried about him a little bit.”
Warinner is correct—teams are paying attention. But Meyer is right too. Barrett at times misses open receivers as he goes through his progressions and there are other plays where he doesn't even have time to do that because his protection breaks down. The passing game has a bunch of moving parts, and teams know what allowed Brown to be so successful at Oklahoma.
“I think Noah after that game, it was such a good game, he caught a lot of people’s attention,” co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tim Beck said. “A lot of times as the X receiver there’s some double coverage to him. Because in a 3 by 1 set he’s a single guy backside. So if teams want to they can double him. That’s been the case at times.”
It has forced Brown to adjust, and the wideout knows he still has a long way to go before he can be considered a dominant receiver like Thomas was last year. But he still feels his season has been productive. Brown is second on the team behind Samuel with 30 catches and 385 yards and is tied with the star H-back for the team lead in receiving touchdowns with seven. He's made big plays since Oklahoma too, catching the game-winning score at Wisconsin and making big grabs for first downs against Northwestern and Michigan.
“I feel like I've had a pretty solid season so far, just doing everything that I can to help win the game, whether it be blocking or receiving, or anything,” Brown said. “I feel like I'm going to continue to do that and see where it takes me.”
Brown's monster block against Northwestern safety Tommy Odell on Oct. 29 sprung Barrett for 35 yards and put that game on ice. He also caught five passes for 51 yards, his second-highest total of the season behind the Oklahoma game.
“I don't think my role has changed as much as I think that you know, it's a matter of, we have so much talent that it's a matter of who it is that's going to be 'it' every game,” Brown said. “That Oklahoma game it happened to be me, I don't think I changed my role or anything I've done it's just the draw of the cards.
“Right now I believe we are 11-1 with a chance to play for the national championship, so I'm not frustrated.”
Samuel is an exceptional talent on the outside and anywhere else he can get the ball in his hands. Barrett and Mike Weber will get their touches too, as will tight end Marcus Baugh. Ohio State won games in 2016 by protecting the ball and orchestrating enough points when better competition took away the things the offense likes to do most. Clemson's talent is unlike anything the Buckeyes will have seen so far this season—everyone on offense needs to step up, including Brown.
He capitalized on the chances when they came at Oklahoma. He wants to do the same thing against Clemson, should he hear his number called like Meyer wants.
“I definitely always want the ball in my hands but it's a matter of...I play on a team, football is a team sport so I realized that can’t happen,” Brown said. “But when my number is called I'm gonna make sure I do everything in my power to make the play.”
