Jeremiah Smith Came To Ohio State For These Expectations

Ohio State freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith was being talked about in uncommon terms before he ever played his first game as a Buckeye.

It didn’t take long for people inside and outside of the Ohio State football facility to see the reality of what was about to happen this season. Smith was outstanding in workouts — becoming the first OSU freshman to earn Iron Buckeye status for his offseason workouts, and even more impressive in spring and fall camp.

Once the season began, everybody else got to see it as well. Smith’s first game featured six catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns. His most recent game this season featured six catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns.

The debut came against Akron, which was impressive, but Smith’s last outing came against Tennessee in the College Football Playoff and was precisely the kind of game he wanted to have.

“I feel like I played a great game,” Smith said on Saturday when asked to assess his performance against the Vols. “It just started with the weeks we had off in practice. Just telling Coach Hart, I want to be challenged. These weeks that we’ve been off, I went up to him before we had Senior Tackle. I pulled him aside. I was like, ‘Coach, I want you to challenge me this week.’ I told him that. You could ask him himself. I want to be challenged. That’s what I want. And he did that last week. And that’s why I had the game that I had.”

Ohio State receivers coach Brian Hartline did as he was asked and Smith did as he promised. He was pushed in practice and he responded.

“I mean, that’s how you become great,” Smith said. “You see guys like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, they want to be pushed. So I’m trying to be like them in football.”

Smith has put together an impressive highlight reel of catches this season. So far this year, he has posted 63 receptions for 1,037 yards, and 12 touchdowns. He has made catches against double teams. He has made catches with just one hand. He may be diving or sliding or being held. Through it all, he views himself as open.

Jeremiah Smith believes that if the ball can touch his hands, he should be able to catch it.

So when is he not open?

“Probably when the whole team is on me,” he laughed. “I mean, I’m always open to me for sure. Just throw the ball in my area, I’m going to find a way to make a play, that’s all I can say.”

Even before Jeremiah Smith arrived at Ohio State, he was already well known in college football circles. He was the number one recruit in the 2024 class for a reason. But with those rankings and attention comes very high expectations. When a true freshman like Smith is being mentioned in the same breath as Marvin Harrison, Jr., who just left OSU as arguably the school’s greatest wide receiver, that’s a lot to live up to.

But it was also part of the allure.

“I mean, expectations, I came to Ohio State for a reason. That’s what I wanted,” Smith said. “I wanted to be challenged. I wanted the expectations, I should say. Coach Hartline helped me throughout the whole year just preparing me for each game, each week. Emeka Egbuka, Carnell Tate, Brandon Innis, really the whole receiver room just helped me. Stuff I don’t really know about, they just helped me throughout the whole week. I can’t really say it was all on me because of my talents, but they’ve really been a big part of the reason I’m having the season that I’m having for sure.”

So now Jeremiah Smith is just a few days away from playing his second career playoff game. But it won’t be his first time playing the Oregon Ducks. In the first meeting back in October, Smith caught nine passes for 100 yards and a touchdown, but it was a questionable offensive pass interference call against him late in the game that knocked the Buckeyes out of field goal territory.

How often does he think about that play?

“Yeah, I think about that call probably every day,” he said. “I mean, it was a crazy call. The DB was holding me. I just cleared his hands. I guess receivers can’t be physical in football anymore, but DBs can hold 10 yards, 15 yards down the field. So, I mean, it’s behind me.”

While that game and that play are behind him, there is much more ahead of him — including one more opportunity against the Oregon Ducks.

What’s the plan this time?

“I just know how to move now when the DB is grabbing me. Can’t be physical as a receiver in college football anymore,” he said.

“But we’ll just see how things play out this game.”

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