With 6:31 remaining in the third quarter of Ohio State’s season opener against Indiana, Hoosier quarterback Richard Lagow took the snap from the shotgun, started to run forward to avoid a sack and attempted to throw away the football in time.
At first, the ball appeared to be an incompletion as all the players around were just standing around. However, no official had blown the play dead, so defensive tackle Robert Landers sprinted after the football and picked it up on the 36-yard line to try and begin his journey to the end zone.
Legs churning, the 6-foot-1, 285-pound lineman motored into the end zone five seconds later, carrying two Indiana players and surrounded by cheering teammates who believed Landers had just scored his first career touchdown.
Much to the chagrin of Landers and his teammates — many of whom were still laughing on the sideline — the ruling on the field was overturned and the officials called it an incomplete pass.
“Oh man, I was heartbroken. That’s every fat boy’s dream,” Landers said Monday. “But yeah, it is in my book, it still counts. So I’m not paying attention to them calling it back. I would say it’s a moment I’ll never forget whether they count it or not.”
After Landers, whose nickname is “BB,” picked the ball up, it took everyone a moment to process that the officials had yet to blow the whistle. But Ohio State’s defense quickly picked up on the moment and began following their teammate into the end zone.
Ohio State redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Robert Landers walks into the Hyatt Place to check in for fall camp on Aug. 6. Credit: Colin Hass-Hill | Sports Editor.
“You know, I’m jogging, I’m laughing the whole way there,” defensive end Tyquan Lewis said after the game. “I’m laughing at everybody. I don’t think nobody thought anything like that would happen, so we all laughing on the field. I even look at the Indiana players and they laughing. I’m like, ‘Dang, it’s really funny.’ It’s probably the funniest thing I’ve ever seen on the football field.”
Once the game was over, Landers had a chance to review the internet’s reaction to his run. Landers noticed everyone on Twitter referred to his touchdown as a “Fat Guy touchdown.”
He doesn’t view his touchdown as falling under that category.
“One thing too, people keep calling me fat on Twitter. I’m not. Just a little thick around the edge,” Landers said.
Landers might be short and stocky, but he believes he’s athletic for his position. He said his shorter size compared with most other defensive tackles can be an advantage when he rotates larger linemen.
“You know from my position, a lot of players are used to guys that are three [hundred]-plus [pounds], 6-foot-4. Well, I’m about 285 [pounds], maybe 6-foot on a good day, so it really just is a big changeup and it really helps with our rotation,” Landers said.
That rotation not only helps Landers give opposing offensive lines a different look, but also keeps the players on the defensive line fresh throughout the game.
Catching up to the ball and picking it up did not require a lot of work, he said, but running the ball nearly a third of the field into the end zone as defenders tried to trip him up or strip the ball from him took plenty of energy. That energy might not have been there for him had he spent more time out on the field during the game.
“I probably would’ve got tackled as soon as I picked it up, but you know that comes with the way we rotate,” Landers said. “It’s always fresh bodies, fresh legs.”
Even after the game was over, Landers’ teammates are still taking their time to relive the moment. Defensive end Jalyn Holmes said on the flight back from Indiana, he watched it several times and was amused each viewing.
“That’s like a comedy show, man,” Holmes said. “It’s not surprising [that he scooped the ball], it’s just surprising that he held onto the ball like that with dudes trying to strip him and he fell on his head. And you know, he’s so fat.”
