Football: The next Buckeye great? Jeremiah Smith is well on his way

Ohio State freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) had a historic first-career game against Akron Saturday. The Buckeyes beat the Zips 52-6 at Ohio Stadium. Credit: Sandra Fu | Photo Editor

There was, what many considered, too much hype surrounding Jeremiah Smith since his arrival to Columbus. Somehow, the true freshman wide receiver surpassed those expectations in his first-ever game as a Buckeye.

Smith — who recorded six receptions for 92 yards and two touchdowns in his collegiate debut — is the first freshman receiver to score twice in his first game at Ohio State since Michael Wiley did so 28 years ago, according to a Saturday article from ESPN.

Even so, the freshman jitters were on display. On Ohio State’s first offensive drive against Akron, Smith dropped a wide-open screen pass and followed that with a pre-snap penalty, which forced the Buckeyes to punt the ball to the Zips.

But the team wasn’t too worried about these potential hits to Smith’s confidence; in fact, no one even acknowledged them.

“Nobody even batted an eye,” head coach Ryan Day said. “Nobody said a word. Like I said, he’s just gonna play through this, and we’re gonna be fine.”

And the 18-year-old Smith had a veteran-like approach to his rough start.

“When I came to the sideline, I was just mad at myself,” Smith said. “But I mean, it’s football, and when you play receiver, you’re going to drop the ball.” 

Freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith scored two touchdowns in Ohio State’s season opener against Akron Saturday. Credit: David Petkiewicz (via TNS) [Original caption: Five-star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has already made an impression on Ohio State’s new quarterback.]

His first two receptions converted an Ohio State third down on the succeeding possession. And his third? A 16-yard, back-shoulder snag in the left near corner of the end zone to cap off his second drive.

Graduate quarterback Will Howard said he didn’t think twice about throwing it up to Smith in single coverage.

“If he’s pressed and it’s one on one, put it up and he’ll make a play, and that’s exactly what he did,” Howard said. “I saw he was pressed, so I tried to put it up over top, and he actually made a little adjustment and came back to it. I mean, that’s all I gotta do, just give him a chance and he’s gonna do the rest.”

With 4:30 to go before halftime, Howard found Smith again, this time over the middle of the end zone, posting Smith and Ohio State’s second touchdown of the afternoon.

Smith’s performance Saturday left Day questioning if the 6-foot-3, 215-pound freshman is even human.

“Sometimes you look at him, you don’t even think he’s quite human,” Day said. “But he is.”

Day admitted Smith’s physicality is something special, but there’s more that goes into football than just the product on the field.

“He’s built different,” Day said. “He is, just the way his approach is, you can see his size and speed and all that, but typically somebody with that type of talent doesn’t have the discipline, the focus that he does.”