One of the most continually impressive things about Jeremiah Smith – well, off the football field at least – is his humility.
At every turn when he has the chance to praise himself, he deflects to teammates and coaches. It’s a tired cliché, but he’s kept his head down and worked at every turn. There’s a reason he became the first freshman ever named an Iron Buckeye by Ohio State’s strength and conditioning staff.
That humility popped up again when someone asked Smith what he saw on an interception tossed by Will Howard against Marshall, a pass intended for Smith deep up the right sideline. He said nothing of the throw – only that he lined up in the wrong position.
“That was on me,” Smith said. “My split was too wide.”
Another way his humility shines through? Smith came to Columbus with no expectations for what his role would be. That’s despite being the No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2024, billed as one of the best receiver prospects ever seen coming out of high school.
Spurred by a fantastic work ethic, Smith is on an early track to have a freshman season the likes of which Ohio State has never seen. But he didn’t come in thinking of himself as an instant star.
“Not at all,” Smith said. “This is Ohio State. All the receivers that have been here and that were here before I got here, I did not have any expectation of having the role that I have right now. So I give all thanks to God, just being able to be in this position right now.”
In three games where he’s subbed out by the third quarter’s end, Smith already has 14 receptions for 281 yards and four touchdowns. At his current pace, he’d break Ohio State’s freshman receptions record with another six games, its yardage record with another four and its touchdown record with another three. All three of those marks were set in Cris Carter’s 1984 freshman season, when the future Pro Football Hall of Famer hauled in 41 receptions for 648 yards and eight touchdowns.
Smith is the first freshman in school history to collect 200 receiving yards in his first two career games. He’s the only first-year to catch a touchdown pass in each of his first three career games.
“I think the first thing is that they get here at mid-year,” Day said on Wednesday of what makes a freshman ready to contribute early. “It's been really hard for guys to make an impact who aren't here in January, it's just the truth. I think the second thing is they're physically mature and then they're mentally and emotionally mature to be able to handle and quickly assimilate to the the speed of the game. Every play you've got to bring it. Sometimes in high school, you can get away and coast a little bit, take some plays off. You can't do that in college, you certainly can't do that here.”
Smith played in the wide receiver factory of South Florida and honed his craft year-round in camps and on 7-on-7 teams like South Florida Express, a squad that Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss also played for before their Ohio State careers. Smith came in with plenty of polish in his route running, body control, ball skills and other technical components of playing the position.
He made a wonderful play on a back-shoulder ball for his first career touchdown, a 16-yard grab off the arm of Will Howard. Smith tracks the ball perfectly, turns on a dime to catch it clean and stabs two steps into the turf before falling out of bounds.
This was...
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) August 31, 2024
Ohio State's first touchdown of the 2024 season
Will Howard's first touchdown for Ohio State
Jeremiah Smiths first touchdown for Ohio Statepic.twitter.com/2dMO2iF2MV
At times, though, it’s just looked natural for Smith. Like a Formula 1 car racing by a worn-out Volkswagen Beetle.
JEREMIAH SMITH HIT THE JETS FOR THE TD @ohiostatefb pic.twitter.com/TQ73HEfor6
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 8, 2024
And yet, none of this has gone to Smith’s head.
“I still feel like I'm just a regular freshman,” Smith said. “A lot of people say I'm not, but the role that I have coming in, it's been a blessing. I can't say it's on me, it's on God, and the coaches for trusting me to put a freshman out there and just to go out there and make plays and do what I do.”
The toughest part of Smith’s transition to college was learning the Ohio State scheme. He let the more veteran players in his room and receivers coach Brian Hartline guide him on where to go and what to do.
“I’d say the playbook, just because you’ve got different formations, a lot of stuff that goes into it,” Smith said. “Coming from high school, that was one of the biggest things, just learning the playbook a little bit. But Coach Hartline, Emeka (Egbuka), Carnell, really the whole receiver group just helped me a lot.”
The fast start to Smith’s career, to him, is surreal. So too is the trust already instilled in him by coaches and teammates. Howard was quoted after Ohio State’s 49-14 win over the Thundering Herd as saying he takes a press-man go-ball shot to No. 4 “every day of the week” – even after the interception mentioned earlier.
“He tells me a lot – each and every day – that if you're single-covered, one-on-one, I'm going to you,” Smith said. “No matter who is on you, it don't matter. I'm throwing it up.”
Coaches showed similar faith in Smith after he dropped his first career target on a screen pass that looked like it could have gone for a long touchdown. He remained in the game, came out the next drive and hauled in three receptions, the first two going for third-down conversions and the last for the 16-yard score above.
“He tells me a lot – each and every day – that if you're single-covered, one-on-one, I'm going to you. No matter who is on you, it don't matter. I'm throwing it up.”– Jeremiah Smith on Will Howard's confidence in him
This week Smith is back to putting in work and preparing for Michigan State. He knows there are much tougher matchups for him ahead. But he’s got the talent, skill and mentality to keep doing things no Buckeye freshman has done before.
“They're a way better team than the last three teams we played,” Smith said. “They’re a better team, I heard, from the last couple of years that we played, Ohio State played them. That's what Coach Day said. It's going to be a good game. We’ve just got to go in there and be Ohio State.”
