Jeremiah Smith Is Studying Film With QBs — And Chasing College Football History

When Ohio State’s wide receivers head to special teams meetings during the week, Jeremiah Smith goes in a different direction. He walks into the quarterbacks room. The unanimous All-American and current Heisman Trophy favorite studies film with the quarterbacks, breaks down concepts and goes over game plans. The setup gives Smith an opportunity to “see the game through a different lens,” an Ohio State spokesperson told me, while also strengthening the chemistry between Smith and starting quarterback Julian Sayin. Five games into the season, that partnership is becoming a nightmare for opposing defenses. Sayin has found Smith 44 times for 823 yards and nine touchdowns. Their connection was on full display during the Buckeyes’ 31-14 win over Iowa last weekend. On the first play of the second quarter, Sayin lofted a pass into triple coverage. Smith, surrounded by defenders closing in, rose up and snatched the ball away before turning upfield and racing 54 yards toward the end zone. “At times, you’re thinking, Julian is kind of forcing the ball, but the two of them are on the exact same page,” former Ohio State coach and “Big Noon Kickoff” analyst Urban Meyer told me. “I mean, you can verify that these two have worked together, they’re in meetings together. Because a lot of times you’re like, why did he throw it there?” Sayin joked after the game that “we probably shouldn’t have gone there.” Ohio State coach Ryan Day agreed: “That was not a great read, but a ridiculous throw and a ridiculous catch.” Regardless, the moment was a testament to the trust the two players have built over the last several years — and now, with the added wrinkle that they’re spending even more time together. Could that familiarity ultimately give the 4-1 Buckeyes, who are pushing to win their second national championship in three years, an edge when they face opponents determined to do everything possible to stop Smith? ‘A Generational Athlete’ Wide receivers taking part in quarterback meetings is unusual — and not the norm at programs around the country. Meyer never did it himself, not even with stars such as Michael Thomas, Parris Campbell or Terry McLaurin on his teams, though he has heard of it happening before. Smith isn’t the first wideout to do this under Day, but he is the only one participating in quarterback meetings this year. Meyer isn’t surprised to hear that Smith has taken on this extra work. “His whole lifestyle is nothing other than being the greatest football player he can be,” Meyer said. “I mean, he doesn’t go out. It’s shocking to me when I hear about how committed he is to being the greatest of all time, and that includes going to quarterback meetings. “This is a generational athlete we are watching.” Former Ohio State QB Justin Zwick remembers a very different setup early in his career, as quarterbacks and receivers met together only because they had the same position coach. Once Jim Tressel eventually hired Darrell Hazell as the dedicated receivers coach, Zwick doesn’t recall anyone outside the quarterback room attending their position meetings. But he thinks what Day is doing with Smith is notable. “It’s beneficial because the receivers are seeing and hearing what the quarterbacks are looking for, what the play is intended to be, and how it all works together, so I think it’s important,” Zwick told me. “I think it’s really cool Jeremiah is doing that.” Zwick said that for Smith, this layer of preparation is like “giving him a PhD in offense” and allows him to “get the bones of the plays and the thought process behind it.” FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt agrees, and told me that being in these meetings is “powerful” for Smith. “He will now understand not only what to do, but also how to do it,” Klatt said. “And most importantly, why it is done this way.” In the win over Iowa, Smith caught 11 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns, including 77 yards after the catch. He’s now the sole program record holder for career receiving yards (3,363), catches (206) and touchdowns (36) — all in less than two-and-a-half seasons. Next, he’ll be zeroing in on Big Ten history. Smith is just 238 yards shy of surpassing Purdue’s John Standeford for the conference career receiving yards record (3,618) and four touchdowns away from eclipsing Michigan’s Braylon Edwards for the career receiving touchdowns mark (39). He might not catch Purdue’s Taylor Stubblefield for the all-time receptions record (316), but he’ll come close. “It’s absolutely absurd,” Zwick said. “Coming into the year, we all were excited and knew he was probably going to break all those records at some point. It’s just been a show.” ‘One Of The Most Refreshing Stories’ Only five wide receivers have ever won the Heisman Trophy. Entering this season, much of the conversation surrounding college football’s most prestigious individual award centered around quarterbacks such as Miami’s Darian Mensah, Notre Dame’s CJ Carr and Texas’ Arch Manning. We’re not even halfway through the season, but Smith has already emerged as the favorite. He currently has the highest odds to win the award, and he’s outpacing former Alabama and current Philadelphia Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith, who won the Heisman in 2020. Through five games, Jeremiah has 267 more yards and five more touchdowns than DeVonta did at the same point in his Heisman-winning season. “We have seen great production before, but what I think is remarkable is that every defense is trying actively to take him away from the Ohio State offense, and he still produces at this level,” Klatt said. “It is crazy. He can defeat double and triple coverage, and he can do it in several ways: pure physicality and size, speed through the top of the defense, elite technique and route running ability. He obviously has an amazing catch radius. “And all of this makes him nearly impossible to defend.” Smith hit the Heisman pose after hauling in a 57-yard touchdown against Iowa. After the game, he told reporters to let the Heisman voters “know that I’m the best player in the country.” And while those who know him best describe him as a man of few words who doesn’t care much about personal accolades, Smith made his ambitions clear when he added, “I’ve got to be there,” referring to the ceremony in New York City. Maybe Smith was partly joking. But he wants to win the Heisman. He wants to win everything. “He’s as serious as it gets, he’s as competitive as it gets, and he practices so freaking hard every day,” Day said this week on the “Triple Option” podcast. “Like, you got to pull him back, and it almost becomes an argument sometimes. He’s like, ‘I need this rep. We got to have this rep.’ He’s a perfectionist. “You just can’t imagine how hard he works every day in practice,” Day repeated. “It’s like a coach’s dream, quite honestly.” And while Smith plays a position often associated with big egos and prima donna behavior, he’s the total opposite. “He’s down to earth,” Zwick said. “We’ve seen him improve each and every year. And a lot of times with receivers, you can get some ‘look-at-me’ guys and maybe guys who are like, ‘Yeah, I know I’m better than everybody, and I’m not going to work as hard as I should.’ “That’s just not what he is about. It’s really special.” Day has spoken many times about Smith’s leadership and his willingness to lead by example. But to Meyer, that’s the most impressive thing the Buckeyes’ superstar wideout has done. “In this day and age of NIL and transferring and all the stuff that’s out there, all this kid does is perform every weekend, and you never hear a thing other than how great he is,” Meyer said. “You never hear, ‘Well, he’s kind of a pain in the ass, his parents are too involved, he’s threatening to transfer because he’s not getting more balls.’ All this stuff that sometimes you hear [about players]. “This is one of the most refreshing stories in college football history when you take a look at the whole body of work.” ‘Greatest Wide Receiver In College Football History?’ Smith won a national championship as a freshman. He was a unanimous first-team All-American selection as a sophomore. Now a junior, he’s leading the country in virtually every major receiving category and has posted back-to-back games with at least 10 catches, 200 receiving yards and two touchdowns. The conversation in and around Columbus these days has shifted to whether Smith is the best Buckeye ever — and if he belongs alongside, or even above players such as two-time Heisman winner Archie Griffin, two-time Lombardi Trophy winner Orlando Pace and Heisman winner Eddie George. “He is the best player in college football, and it is not very close,” Klatt said. “I think a great question to be asked is if he is the greatest wide receiver in college football history already? I think it is a conversation between [Randy] Moss, Julio Jones, [Larry] Fitzgerald and Smith.” Smith will have more chances to make his case as Ohio State’s upcoming schedule features matchups against No. 7 Indiana, No. 19 USC, No. 13 Oregon and rival Michigan. “Everybody’s seen him and everybody wants to try and stop him,” Zwick said. “And it just doesn’t seem like anybody’s going to.”