Going into the season, it seemed as though it would be nearly impossible for Jeremiah Smith to exceed the extremely high expectations surrounding the freshman wide receiver.
Somehow, the No. 1 overall prospect from the 2024 recruiting class who was considered one of the greatest high school wide receiver prospects ever has managed to be even better than expected.
A step up in competition as the Buckeyes played their first Big Ten game and first road game of the season at Michigan State did nothing to slow down the freshman phenom. To the contrary, Jeremiah Smith’s rapid rise to stardom took another big leap as he captured the nation’s attention with a five-catch, 83-yard game in which he scored two touchdowns – already the fifth and sixth of his Ohio State career – and made a pair of spectacular one-handed catches in the same drive.
Smith showcased his versatility as a playmaker with his first touchdown of the night, scoring his first rushing touchdown as a Buckeye as he took an end-around for a 19-yard score, making use of his elite speed.
Touchdown, @OhioStateFB
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 29, 2024
Jeremiah Smith has a TD in all 4 games so far as a freshman pic.twitter.com/IZ0TYEUf1n
Two drives later, Smith truly set Buckeye Nation abuzz with a pair of one-handed catches that showed how gifted he truly is.
First, Smith skied over two Michigan State defenders to make a leaping grab along the right sideline for a 27-yard catch. Three plays later, Smith fully extended to haul in a throw from Devin Brown (who replaced Will Howard for one play after Howard got the wind knocked out of him) without losing stride to get into the end zone for a 17-yard score.
TWO UNBELIEVEABLE ONE-HANDED CATCHES BY JEREMIAH SMITH
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 29, 2024
THEY CAN'T GUARD HIM pic.twitter.com/vGUUs6rn41
That sequence of plays drew a bevy of reactions from social media, including a tweet from basketball legend LeBron James.
JEREMIAH SMITH!!!! MAN KNOCK IT OFF!!!! MY GOODNESS O-H..
— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 29, 2024
While Smith isn’t one to brag much upon himself, he smiled when told postgame that LeBron had tweeted about him.
“It means a lot,” Smith said. “Growing up, just watching LeBron and looking up to him and the things that he was doing on the basketball side, it's pretty cool to me.”
Smith doesn’t need to talk himself up because his highlights and his numbers both speak for themselves. With 19 catches for 364 yards and five touchdown catches – plus the aforementioned touchdown run – in only four games, Smith is already well on his way to having the best season ever by an Ohio State freshman wide receiver.
Smith’s 364 receiving yards already rank fourth all-time among Ohio State freshmen behind only Cris Carter (648), David Boston (450) and Garrett Wilson (432). His five receiving touchdowns are already tied with Wilson for third behind Carter (eight) and Boston (seven). His 19 receptions are already the fifth-most by a Buckeye freshman behind only Carter (41), Boston (33), Wilson (30) and Ted Ginn Jr. (25).
While Smith may not be one to talk himself up, his coaches and teammates are certainly happy to do so. Day described Smith’s touchdown catch as “unbelievable” and “a tremendous play” and credited Smith’s work ethic with the success he’s been able to achieve so quickly.
“He does it every day in practice. He just doesn't say a word, but works his tail off,” Day said. “His discipline, his humility. He loves being a Buckeye. You can tell just with the way he works with his teammates. He's coming out of his shell a little bit, too, which is great to see. But, I mean, the talent speaks for itself. I just am impressed with the discipline and the hard work and being able to step in at such a young age. The only way you do that is if you go in and put the work in. And he came in with that work ethic. (Wide receivers coach Brian Hartline)’s certainly taken it from there, but this is a special young man.”
Emeka Egbuka – who’s certainly been around his share of great receivers at Ohio State, having played with Wilson, Marvin Harrison Jr., Chris Olave and Jaxon Smith-Njigba – said Smith “has all the intangibles that you would want in a prototypical receiver.”
“Obviously, he's tall, he's fast, he's strong, all these things, but just his ability to seek knowledge and want to be able to learn; he doesn't necessarily have to listen to everything that I say or that Coach Hart says, but he takes in all this knowledge and he applies it on the field,” Egbuka said.
Four games into his Buckeye career, Smith already has a case for being the best player on a loaded Ohio State roster and one of the best wide receivers in the entire country. And he still might only be scratching the surface of how good he can truly be.
“As his knowledge grows and his game expands, he's really going to turn it into something special, so Buckeye fans can be excited for these next few years,” Egbuka said.
