Ohio State kicked off its 2020 season by playing host to Nebraska on Saturday afternoon in Columbus. As the game was getting out of hand in the fourth quarter of play, the Buckeyes began getting more and more of their younger players run. It was a good decision they did that, because one of the team’s true freshman receivers made one of the plays of the year to secure the team a touchdown.
The team faced a first-and-goal from the Husker 5 early on in the fourth quarter. Signal caller Justin Fields rolled out to his right, surveyed his options, and rifled a pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba as he got lit up by a defender. Smith-Njigba did his best to reel it in, but appeared to be out of bounds after failing to get a foot in.
While Smith-Njigba and fellow receiver Jameson Williams signaled for a touchdown, the officials said no. Then, they looked again, and realized that the true freshman pulled off a ridiculous toe tap to get a foot inbounds and give the Buckeyes another score.
WHAT A TOE TAP BY @jaxon_smith1 😱
The @OhioStateFB Freshman WR comes up with a big TD for the Buckeyes! pic.twitter.com/2pnGD86fVR
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 24, 2020
The body control here is otherworldly — Smith-Njigba’s body is out of bounds, and yet he manages to go way up, pluck the ball out of the air, and somehow get his right foot in for the score. Ohio State has one of the nation’s scariest receiver groups, and if this is any indication, the former five-star prospect is going to fit into that group comfortably.
