The first time the Braxton Miller-to-Devin Smith connection showed promise was in Ohio State’s summer camp for high-school seniors in 2010.

Miller, a big-time quarterback recruit, was already committed to OSU, while Smith was hoping to net a scholarship offer.

That came hours later, and now it’s hard to imagine the two freshmen without each other. Miller made his first college start yesterday, and he threw two touchdown passes to Smith as the Buckeyes beat Colorado 37-17.

That makes three career touchdown passes for Miller, all to Smith.

“He gets good position and he catches the ball,” is the way Miller described his affinity for throwing to Smith.

The two have had each other’s number since the camp more than a year ago.

“We exchanged cellphone numbers and started keeping up with each other,” Smith said.

Now they are connecting in front of 105,000. Smith’s TDs against Colorado came on a 32-yard post-cut in the first quarter and on a 17-yard fade to the left side of the end zone in the third.

Miller said he liked both of them. Which was Smith’s favorite?

“I like both of them, but if I had to pick one, I would probably pick the fade,” he said. “That’s just because (Colorado cornerback Greg Henderson) was tight on me a little bit, and I had to make a big play, which I did.”

Shoulder hinders Stewart

Rodney Stewart had hoped for a better homecoming.

The Brookhaven graduate and Colorado’s third-leading career rusher got his chance to play against Ohio State in Ohio Stadium but was less than his best, finishing with 82 yards rushing and receiving. He had 500 in the Buffaloes’ first three games.

Some of his problems were caused by the Buckeyes’ defense, but some of it was because of a right shoulder Stewart said he injured the previous week against Colorado State. He said the injury prevented him from playing more physically, which might explain why he seldom ran between the tackles, almost always heading for the perimeter.

“I was just battling through it,” Stewart said. “It’s nothing too serious.”

Stewart lost two fumbles, one on a botched read-option exchange with quarterback Tyler Hansen, the other when he was knocked off-balance by a teammate while trying to catch a punt.

“We did our best. Ain’t nothing I really can say,” Stewart said. “It’s over now. We’ve just got to look forward to next week.”

Impressed with Miller

Colorado cornerback Ayodeji Olatoye, a Dublin Scioto graduate, said Miller was the toughest challenge for the Buffaloes’ defense.

“Even if we had good coverage or held our ground up front, he has the ability to make plays with his legs. His scrambling was our biggest downfall,” Olatoye said.

Quick start for defense

Miami stung Ohio State with two quick touchdowns last week, and the Buckeyes were determined not to let anything like that happen again against Colorado.

They didn’t.

Ohio State allowed only 13 yards in Colorado’s first four possessions while its offense jumped to a 17-0 lead.

“It was very important,” defensive back Tyler Moeller said. “You saw last week how important it was to get off to a fast start. That was one of our emphases that we wanted to make this week. Guys did a great job of making four three-and-outs.”

Colorado did have a couple of long touchdown drives, but it was a far stronger performance than against Miami, which ran for 240 yards.

No review

With Ohio State ahead 34-10 in the fourth quarter, Smith caught a sideline pass but was ruled out of bounds, negating a gain of about 25 yards.

Instead of challenging the ruling, Buckeyes coach Luke Fickell called timeout, hoping the officials would take that time to review the play themselves without Ohio State having to use its replay challenge. Fickell stood near the referee during the timeout, but the play was not reviewed. Fickell elected not to use his challenge.

“I kept hearing from upstairs that that was a catch, but it seems the officials didn’t quite think so,” Fickell said. “But the guys up in the (press) box kept telling me, ‘It’s a catch, it’s a catch.’ ”