Time is running short for Corey Smith.
The former Akron Buchtel star who made it to Ohio State following junior college stints at both Grand Rapids and East Mississippi as part of Urban Meyer's 2013 class has just one season left in Columbus to make his mark on the program.
The former Tennessee commit's long and winding road to Columbus even saw a redshirt season before his 2014 campaign was marred with inconsistency despite showing some playmaking ability late in the season.
After generating a fair amount of hype as the Buckeyes prepared to open the 2014 slate, Smith quickly found his way into the doghouse of both coaches and fans following two huge drops in the loss to Virginia Tech including a sure touchdown in the 1st half. Poor fundamentals – chiefly a tendency to cradle passes with his body instead of outstretched hands – gave credence to noise that Smith wasn't focused enough and didn't give proper effort and attention to detail in practice.
Three games after the Virginia Tech debacle, Smith recorded a career-high four receptions (44 yards) in a 52-24 spanking of Maryland but managed just one catch over the next four games.
At frigid Minnesota the next time out, Smith caught two balls for zero yards but it was what looked like his quitting on a route leading to an interception that put him in the crosshairs once again.
With one catch for three yards the following week versus Indiana, Smith's 11 game totals read 12 receptions for 116 yards or a meager 1.1 receptions per game for 10.5 yards.
To the credit of both Smith and the staff, over the final four games against decidedly stiffer competition (excluding Michigan), the former four-star prospect not only didn't disappear but produced eight grabs for 139 yards, or 2.0 receptions per game for 34.8 yards and showed a willingness to help his teammates make big plays. Sure, those numbers don't jump off the page but they do serve as a solid improvement over his first 11 outings.
After a three-catch, 28 yard effort against Michigan that also included a teeth-jiggling block on Wolverine safety Jarrod Wilson, Smith was again a factor in a brief showing against Wisconsin.
Following a nine-yard reception on Ohio State's opening scoring drive and later a 21-yard grab three plays before Ezekiel Elliott made it 31-0 Buckeyes, Smith was ejected late in the 2nd quarter on a bad call as unleashed another vicious block in an effort to spring a teammate.
Fast forward two weeks later and Smith served as Ohio State's leading receiver in the national championship win over Oregon with two grabs for 76 yards. Unfortunately, Smith made a big mistake as he coughed up the football after a 47-yard catch and run up the right sideline after earlier hauling in a key 26-yard reception on 3rd and 8 to help Ohio State score their first touchdown, tying the game at seven apiece.
The final four games served as something for Smith to build on and with the departure of Devin Smith and Evan Spencer opening up a high volume of snaps, the redshirt senior knows it's now or never as he competes with a host of younger guys for coveted opportunities to make plays down the field.
While it's notable Meyer raved about Noah Brown this spring and moved Jalin Marshall out wide to learn the position in addition to showing a willingness to using H-backs on deeper routes than we've seen in the past, it was Smith who made the biggest plays down the field in the spring game including touchdown grabs of 58 and 37 yards en route to a six catch, 174 yard performance.
Of course, gaudy spring game numbers mean nothing in the grand scheme of things so the hope is that Smith takes to heart the importance of working on his craft and paying attention to the little things that help players go from good to great. Clearly, offensive coordinator Ed Warriner will be taking note of whether or not Smith can turn the maturation corner:
"Consistency is his issue. He has some talent and he showed it. Today he showed his talent. His deal is to do that every day and he's trying to figure out what he needs to do to become consistent because when he does show up and does what he needs to do, he's really good."
With the door wide open for Smith to charge through and become a playmaker, whether or not he decides to consistently apply his head and heart to his sterling physical talent will be a factor in Ohio State's hopes of repeating as national champs.
