Ohio State Cotton Bowl Notebook: ‘Jeremiah is a once-in-a-lifetime talent’

Three’s Company

There is no chance that Ohio State freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is going to sneak up on the Texas Longhorns in Friday’s Cotton Bowl. In fact, he’s going to be one of their defensive focal points — and for good reason.

So far in 14 games this season, Smith has 70 receptions for 1,224 yards and 14 touchdowns. He has been one of the outstanding players this season nationally and has rewritten every Ohio State freshman receiving record there’s ever been.

Asked if he’s the best receiver he’s ever coached, Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly didn’t want to get into ranking players, but also didn’t mince words regarding how he feels about Jeremiah Smith.

“Jeremiah is a once-in-a-lifetime talent, so I’m not into comparisons of who’s this, who’s that,” he said.

Kelly knows the Longhorns will attempt to take Smith out of the Ohio State game plan, which is easier said than done. But even if they do succeed, the Buckeyes still have Emeka Egbuka (70-896-10) and Carnell Tate (43-611-4) at receiver as well.

“I’ve always felt like we have three number one receivers, and that’s the beautiful part of it,” Kelly said. “If you’re going to try to take away JJ and Mek, then that means that there’s more opportunities for Carnell in those situations, so he’s been outstanding. I think the game we played against Northwestern was a heck of a game by him, so I think it’s on a weekly basis. It just depends on how the defense is going to deploy their personnel and what they’re trying to take away and what they’re trying to give us.”

Howard In Charge

Each step of the way in the College Football Playoffs, there have been some expectations that Ohio State quarterback Will Howard might become a larger part of the running game. That hasn’t happened yet, mostly because the passing game has been unstoppable and the Buckeyes have been able to run the ball without using Howard to jumpstart the ground game.

If they need him against Texas, however, he’ll be ready.

“Yeah, he’s extremely prepared,” said Chip Kelly. “Will’s a tremendous athlete, so what we do is based upon what the defense gives us, and do you need to have him run or are you into that? You look at winning the Penn State game. His legs were critical in that game, in the run game, down the stretch. So I think it just depends on how people are going to play you, but we have all the confidence in the world if Will has to take it underneath his arm, he’s going to do a good job of it.”

Howard carried the ball a season-high 12 times against Penn State, though a couple of those were sacks. His season-high rushing total this year came against Tennessee (37 yards) on just five attempts.

Howard does also have a history of carrying the ball against the Longhorns. As a freshman at Kansas State, he rushed for 79 yards on 18 carries in a 69-31 loss in 2020. The following year he rushed for 82 yards in a 22-17 loss. His next crack against Texas came last year, when he didn’t run the ball well at all (-23 yards) and the Wildcats fell 33-30.

The Office

You can forgive the Buckeyes for being excited about their Rose Bowl win over Oregon and celebrating despite the fact that the College Football Playoffs are far from over. It was an emotional game against an opponent with some history.

You can also forgive those on the outside for wondering if the Buckeyes are going to be able to get up for another big game after such an emotional outpouring a week ago against the Ducks.

How does the team stay locked in?

“I think it’s simple. You just turn the tape on to who you’re playing,” said Chip Kelly. “So I don’t think you can discount anybody when 12 teams made it, all 12 teams are legitimate contenders, and you turn on the tape and you watch Tennessee, and you’re like, ‘wow, that defensive line for Tennessee was impressive.’

“So, you know, that had our sole focus and attention that week in getting ready for them. And then you fast forward, and now you’ve got to go to the Rose Bowl and play against the number one team in the country, who we had already played during the year and knew a lot about them. So you get an opportunity to beat them, and now you get to go play Texas, and Texas played in the SEC championship game.”

The long hours at the office breaking down film makes it easy for the team and coaches to stay locked in. They see the challenges ahead of them, and they know that if they take anybody lightly at this point, then their season will come to a crashing end.

“I know how well coached their team is. So that part of it is it,” Kelly said. “The challenge is just the next game. We’re not thinking about the end goal. We’re not a results-oriented group. We’re a process-oriented group. So our whole sole focus and attention is on preparing for Texas.”

Eight Is Enough?

The Buckeyes sacked Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel eight times in the Rose Bowl. Common sense would suggest that if Ohio State sacks Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers eight times, then the Buckeyes will be advancing to the national championship game.

One of the interesting aspects of the Ohio State success against Oregon is that the pass rushing wasn’t really a product of blitzing, but rather stellar defensive line play and changing the picture for the quarterback after the snap.

This is a veteran and versatile defensive group for the Buckeyes and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has been putting them in position to succeed.

“I feel like we’ve done enough now with the coverage and structure of the way we look that hopefully it’s forcing the quarterback to hold the ball a little bit longer. And that’s when the rush delivers,” Knowles explained.

But he also credited the speed at which his defense is playing. There is no hesitation. They’re operating at a very high level right now, which is very bad news for opposing quarterbacks.

And more importantly, they’re also fighting for one more opportunity to be on the field with their brothers.

“I think guys are cutting it loose,” Knowles said. “You get down to the end and they want to keep playing together. They don’t want it to stop. Sometimes when you get to these moments of your career — we have veterans, there’s always that little bit of an extra level. That’s human nature. You think you’ve given it all until everything’s on the line. Then you see, ‘wow, I do have an extra gear.’ I think you’re seeing some of that.”

Go to discussion...