ROSE BOWL BOUND
Ohio State demolishes Tennessee, 42-17, and advances to the Rose Bowl to face top-seeded Oregon.
There’s a smattering of ways that younger generations have found to say somebody is good at his or her craft.
He’s him. He’s got that dog (or perhaps dawg) in him. He’s like that.
The latter is the phrase cornerback Denzel Burke – perhaps the least likely of any Buckeye to sugarcoat anything – used to describe Jeremiah Smith when asked why it’s the freshman who he enjoys going against most in practice.
Burke even said it two extra times, each more emphasized than the last.
“To be honest, he's like that,” Burke said. “Like, like that, like that. So he's next up, and I'm really excited for just seeing these next couple of years and what he's going to bring to the table for our team this year, too.”
After a spring in which Smith drew consistent praise and made a bevy of highlight-reel catches, the hype mountain surrounding the composite No. 1 prospect in the 2024 recruiting class continued to build higher at Big Ten Media Days, even though Ryan Day wanted to be careful with what he said about the freshman wide receiver.
“It's easy to see how talented he is,” Day said. “I think the thing you already recognize, though, is that he's really good at the no-talent things as well. But I'm going to hold off comments until he plays his first snap at Ohio State, then we'll go from there.”
For those who need a refresher, despite some Early Signing Day drama, the Buckeyes landed the five-star Smith out of Chaminade-Madonna Prep in Hollywood, Florida. A few short months later he shed his black stripe faster than any freshman ever has.
At first the Buckeyes’ veterans, like defensive end Jack Sawyer, didn’t want to place too much pressure on Smith to live up to his billing in his first collegiate season. Everyone is on a different developmental track and few become stars as freshmen at a program such as Ohio State, which Sawyer can attest to as a five-star prospect who just broke out in the second half of his junior campaign.
But behind the scenes, Smith’s talent has become undeniable.
“That kid is just special,” Sawyer said. “That's the only word I can use to describe him. Having been in his shoes – meaning being a five-star recruit and having a lot of hype surrounding him coming in – I was like, man, I just wanna see him practice a couple of times. ... Then I saw him for the first time, the first practice, I was like, ‘Holy shit, this kid's good.’”
Above all else, Sawyer’s been impressed with Smith’s work ethic and mentality.
“He's a great young player, he's got a great future ahead of him,” Sawyer said. “He's got a great head on his shoulders, very humble kid. So whatever he gets, he's earned and he's worked for it. So I'm super excited for him.”
Humility might be something odd to hear associated with a player long touted as the greatest thing since chocolate chip cookies by his peers. But it’s a quality senior wide receiver Emeka Egbuka was also quick to associate with South Florida Express’ 7-on-7 star.
“He's very about his business, very professional kid,” Egbuka said. “I think that's what's most impressive about him because he's the prototypical wide receiver that you would want, but he's mature beyond his years and you don't really have to get on him too much. He's going to work. He's going to keep himself humble. And that's what I love about him.”
Still, Egbuka has made sure to keep fueling Smith’s confidence. Ohio State’s consistently churned through a revolving door of great wide receivers since Brian Hartline took over the position room, and so much of being a great receiver is having confidence in one’s abilities.
Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba were always quick to pump up then-freshmen Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr. when given the opportunity in 2021, when Olave and Wilson were well-established elite veterans and Smith-Njigba was enjoying a breakout sophomore year. Now Egbuka wants to do the same with Smith.
“I can't speak for Jeremiah, but when Chris and Garrett and Jaxon would hype me up, that just gave me such tremendous confidence,” Egbuka said. “Their ability to uplift me did more than they even knew at the time. So we try to instill that confidence in the guys and let them know that even though – college is hard. You go through times where you have doubts and you're like, ‘Am I cut out for this? Can I do this?’ And just receiving that confidence from someone you know is not lying to you and you have stood side by side and put the work in with is really encouraging.”
“I saw him for the first time, the first practice, I was like, ‘Holy shit, this kid's good.’”– Jack Sawyer on Jeremiah Smith
While Burke anticipates Smith will help Ohio State win games right away, it’s hard not to envision what his true ceiling could be after he gets some experience and development.
“He has a little bit of Marv in him, and he's only a freshman now, so imagine what he's going to be like in his third year,” Burke said. “He's going to be nuts.”
Day will continue to try to keep some of the weight of expectations off his most touted freshman’s shoulders. But even in his own murmurings, the hype is only continuing to build.
“We've had some talented guys before, but he's right up there. Yeah, he is,” Day said. “I don't think our guys are too tied into some of that stuff. They're kind of focused on what they're focused on. But it's going to be exciting to see him play.”
