While Jeremiah Smith continues to dazzle the college football world, one might imagine that the wide receiver’s superstardom could become a dull talking point for the Ohio State Buckeyes. But that’s not the case for head coach Ryan Day.
“He’s very, very competitive, very proud,” Day said about Smith’s work ethic on Tuesday. “Works his tail off every day in practice. We try to pull him back, and he fights you on it because he just wants to get better every day, just the mindset and makeup. He is an unbelievable example.
“I think sometimes our players, I know the wide receivers probably do and some of the guys on offense [get sick of hearing it], ‘well, look at Jeremiah. Do you ever see Jeremiah do this? Do you ever see Jeremiah [do that]?’ And after a while, I think they get tired of it, but it’s because he sets the example every day.”
Smith, the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2024, is in his sophomore season at Ohio State, following a historic freshman campaign which came against the backdrop of the Buckeyes winning the National Championship.
Totaling 76 receptions for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns, Smith was the leading catalyst for Ohio State’s passing attack and set program records for a freshman in all three of the aforementioned categories. Furthermore, his 1,315 receiving yards and 15 receiving touchdowns each led the Big Ten, with the latter total a Big Ten freshman record.
As for this season, Smith had six catches for just 43 yards in Ohio State’s Week 1 win over Texas, but came to life in its Week 2 win over Grambling State with five receptions for 119 yards and two touchdowns.
Now-No. 1 Ohio State hosts Ohio on Saturday, with its first Big Ten matchup coming on the road against Washington on Sept. 27.
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