Ohio redshirt junior wide receiver Donte Foster has been making big plays since high school, where he had his first brush with the national spotlight by being featured as ESPN’s top play for a buzzer-beating basketball swish with his back to the basket in 2009.
Despite his big-play potential, Foster has become more known for his consistency while starring on the gridiron at Ohio. He has averaged 13 yards per catch during the past three seasons, but has only one reception longer than 35 yards, which came in 2010.
That makes Foster’s average yardage all the more impressive, as it is not buoyed by many lengthy receptions. Moreover, he has tacked almost 20 yards onto his game average from last season and is on pace to surpass his 2011–12 total of 352 yards with a 29-yard performance Thursday against Eastern Michigan.
Ohio wide receivers coach Dwayne Dixon said Foster’s productivity has made him the leading candidate for big-play balls when the game is on the line, filling in for departed deep threats LaVon Brazill and Riley Dunlop.
“Quarterbacks have an affinity to throw it to the guy they think is going to catch it most,” Dixon said. “I think (Foster) wants to make sure he makes (quarterbacks) look good, like, ‘Just put it in the air and I’ll go make a play on it.’ ”
That’s redshirt junior quarterback Tyler Tettleton’s mentality in dealing with his most frequent target, who said he learned to judge timing and trajectory on the hardwood, on which he starred in high school and later averaged almost 13 points per game at Seminole State College of Florida before coming to Ohio.
“He’s the one that gets open,” said Tettleton, Foster’s 2011–12 roommate. “I just have to throw it up and give him a chance, because I know he’s going to come down with it.”
One route that has been a success this season is the corner fade, where Tettleton finesses a floater to the far corner of the end zone, where Foster meets it, airborne, hands outstretched.
That was the case in the first game of the season, when the duo connected to seal a win against Penn State — perhaps the most momentous win of their careers.
With 2:59 remaining in the game and Ohio trailing by three, Tettleton dropped back to pass and released toward the far rear corner of the end zone. By the time he returned to his feet after being knocked to the ground on the 14-yard line by Penn State linebacker Michael Mauti, Foster had already shook off safety Jacob Fagnano, roped in the pass, and ran off the field to the sound of a thousand camera clicks.
That moment will be forever ingrained in Foster’s memory, but it was no different than the one practiced at Peden Stadium so many times — 500–600 if Foster’s estimation is correct.
“I felt that play would put a dagger in them,” Foster said, recalling getting the relay from offensive coordinator Tim Albin in the team huddle. “I just went through my steps on-point. It’ll definitely be a memorable play (of) my career.”
Since, the road Foster has taken hasn’t been easy or as glamorous. He was forced to watch from the sidelines during Ohio’s wins against Massachusetts and Buffalo earlier this season because of a thumb injury, and as a result, a thick layer of tape still wraps around his thumb and palm while on the gridiron.
“It’s been a big lift for him to fight through and show the guys, ‘Hey, I’m going to tough it out even though it’s a part of me being able to make plays on the ball,’ ” Dixon said.
Foster is anxious to get back on the field Thursday after leaving empty-handed from the game against Miami, in which he was supposed to be the primary target on the game-ending broken play that ended Ohio’s perfect 2012 campaign.
“The route that the coach had called, I thought that it would be open, myself,” he said. “But as they rolled over a safety, I saw that it was going to be kind of impossible to get it in between there. I definitely wanted the ball in my hands in that situation.
“It’s good that we have a quick turnaround, though, because we can seek out and go try to punish Eastern Michigan for our loss.”
jr992810@ohiou.edu
