The Ohio State football team had a tough battle against Notre Dame in the National Championship Game. After jumping out to a big lead, they ended up winning the game by a score of 34-23. That 11-point victory didn't look very likely after Notre Dame's first drive.
That first drive from the Fighting Irish was a thing of beauty. They went 18 plays in 9:45 to score the first touchdown of the game. They took a 7-0 lead. Because of how long that drive took, Ohio State's first possession stretched into the second quarter.
On that first possession ended up being the most critical play of the entire game. The Buckeyes were facing a third-and-five. If they didn't covert, they would go three-and-out and punt the ball right back to Notre Dame That could have given the Irish the momentum they needed to potentially win the game.
Jeremiah Smith helped the Ohio State football team win the national title very early
On that third down, Will Howard threw a pass to Jeremiah Smith. Smith had to come back to the ball and catch it behind the first down marker. He looked like he was going to get tackled just short of the first down marker, which would have meant Ohio State would have had to punt.
Instead, Smith put his head down and fought for extra yards. He ended up getting the first down, keeping Ohio State's first critical drive alive. Smith would end up finishing the drive with a walk-in touchdown. He never would have gotten there without that first third-down conversion.
That third-down conversion might be small, but it was critical. Because of how badly the Buckeyes needed to score on that first drive, it ended up being a much bigger play. In fact, it ended up being the biggest play of the game.