NORMAN, Okla. _ If a touchdown reception's greatness is measured by how witnesses rank it among the best they've seen, Ohio State redshirt sophomore Noah Brown became more than a YouTube sensation Saturday night.
On a 21-yard score with six seconds remaining in the first half, Brown used his right hand to pin the ball on the back of Oklahoma cornerback Michiah Quick, then covered it with his left hand and hung on as he hit the ground.
The play gave the Buckeyes an 18-point lead as OSU rolled 45-24 in Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Coliseum.
The play drew comparisons to Francis Osuwu's incredible catch for Stanford against UCLA in 2015 and Tyrone Prothro's similar feat for Alabama against Southern Mississippi in 2005. Those were considered by some as the play of the year in college football.
Minutes after the victory, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said he didn't know how he felt about Brown's miracle catch because he hadn't seen it yet.
"That's one of the great catches, from what I heard. I can't use the language I heard from the press box," he said, drawing laughter.
It was one of a school single-season record-tying four touchdowns by Brown against the Sooners. His first four receptions went for scores and he finished with five catches for 72 yards. That eclipsed his total of four catches for 62 yards and a TD in the first two games.
With scoring grabs of 4, 37, 21 and 8 yards against Oklahoma, Brown joined Dane Sanzenbacher (Eastern Michigan, 2010), Terry Glenn (at Pitt, 1995) and Bob Grimes (Washington State, 1952) in the OSU record book.
It also capped Brown's comeback from a gruesome broken leg suffered in practice on Aug. 26, 2015, just before the Sept. 7 season opener at Virginia Tech. Brown, now a redshirt sophomore, was on track to start.
"Sometimes good things happen to good people, and he's a great person that went through an extremely tough injury," Meyer said. "It warms your heart to see him have that kind of experience, especially on the road in a really tough environment.
"He's a grinder. We love grinders around here. He's a guy who works so hard. There's not a better guy, a better family. To see him have success, that's a good thing."
Brown admitted it was tough to go down so close to last year's opener.
"My teammates really had my back and supported me, helped me get back to where I am right now," Brown said. "I feel like I owed it to them to come out here and play well when my number's called. I love my teammates to death and I'm glad to be back with them."
At 6-foot-2 and 218 pounds, Brown may have become the red-zone target Meyer and quarterback J.T. Barrett were searching for in a crowded receiving corps.
The Sooners left Brown in single coverage all night and he was unstoppable in the corner of the end zone, yet Oklahoma never adjusted.
"They trust their DBs like we trust our receivers and our DBs," Barrett said. "It was one of those things, 'Who's better?' On the plays we had, we executed."
Brown said he used his bigger frame to box out and go up for the ball, but didn't lay claim to the go-to tag.
"I think he has a lot of go-to guys," Brown said, referring to Barrett. "We're deep as a team, we've got a lot of players that can be a threat on any given day."
Brown said with Quick in his face he was just telling himself to come down with the ball. He said he'd never made a catch like that before, even at Pope John XXIII High School in Sparta, N.J.
He did see the ball when he caught it, saying he was thinking, " 'Hold on until I get to the ground.' " But Barrett thought there was an easier way and said as much to receivers coach Zach Smith and co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Tim Beck.
"I was telling coach Smith and coach Beck I was going to be mad at him because he didn't have to do that, honestly," Barrett said. "Where I placed the ball he could have leaned on the [cornerback] and just winded back. But he wanted to make ESPN Top 10. He [made] a great catch."
Asked to sum up Brown in two words, Barrett said, "Good hands. Like State Farm." Then he corrected himself and said, "That's Allstate."
"He has that mentality when the ball's in the air it's his," Barrett said. "I think that's something great to have at wide receiver."
