He ran right into the history books.
Former Erasmus Hall star Curtis Samuel notched the game-winning touchdown in double overtime to lift Ohio State to a 30–27 victory against Michigan on Nov. 26, a dash into the end zone that will go down as one of the biggest in the longtime gridiron rivalry.
“Everybody trusts me with the ball in my hands and they knew I could make a play,” Samuel told reporters after the game. “[The team] made it easy for me. All I had to do was turn up the field and get into the end zone.”
Samuel swept into the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown run just moments after the Buckeyes barely converted a fourth-and-one. Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said all he remembered of the moment was watching Samuel cross into the end zone — and the music that signaled the squad had won.
“I remember that Neil Diamond song — that was great,” Meyer said, referring to the Brooklyn-native bard’s “Sweet Caroline.”
Samuel’s game-clinching touchdown was, of course, the highlight of the former Dutchmen star’s afternoon, but the running back also recorded one of the game’s most dramatic plays two snaps prior. He turned nothing into an eight-yard gain on third down, keeping on his feet in the backfield and evading Michigan defenders from sideline to sideline.
It wasn’t pretty, but it kept the Buckeyes alive.
“I can’t even tell you how that happened,” Samuel said. “I got to go back and look at film. I knew I had to make a play for my team and it just happened.”
Samuel was quiet for much of regulation — he racked up just 53 all-purpose yards — but when it mattered most the Canarsie native didn’t shy away from the pressure, he ran towards it. And, along the way, led the Buckeyes to one of the team’s most impressive victories in years.
“That is one of the classic games of this rivalry that will forever be,” Meyer said. “That’s an instant classic between two great teams.”
