Ryan Day and Ohio State needed all their players to step up against Penn State, including seldom-used tight end Jelani Thurman. Thankfully, he delivered in a major spot for the offense.

In the 2nd quarter, Ohio State was driving with the ball and looking to build its 14-10 lead over Penn State. The Nittany Lions were able to force a 4th-and-1 near midfield, but the Buckeyes would not punt.

Instead of running it for the short gain, Ohio State called a rollout pass play. Will Howard evaded the rush with a nimble move before targeting a streaking Thurman across the field.

Howard’s pass was on target, but the catch was far from a clean one. It took a long moment of juggling and re-situating the football before Thurman completed the catch. Fortunately, he did complete the catch, and that’s the bottom line.

Here’s how it played out live:

During his Thursday radio show, Day commented on the call and described it as “a bar of soap” for Thurman. Day also joked that it credited as 3 drops and 3 catches for Thurman after the wild sequence.

“It was like a bar of soap,” cracked Day. “That thing was all over the plays. He got three catches and three drops all in one play. I lost about a week of life on that play.”

In the end, it still goes down as a crucial conversion, and Day said the play ignited the sideline. It was just the 4th catch of Thurman’s career but is the longest of his time with the Buckeyes, so we’ll see if he gets more opportunities moving forward.