los angeles — Jeremiah Smith Notice issued on Monday. Oregondefense if he chooses to play single coverage on him or a single. State of Ohio Recipients
“I’m just laughing in my head. Why are you really playing against us or against me, I should say?” Smith said. “And when we see man. [coverage] Against any of our receivers, we’re going to get a shot down the field.
“So I’m telling everybody right now if you play a man on Wednesday, we’re taking a shot.”
Smith, Ohio State’s dynamic freshman receiver, torched Tennessee with six catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes’ 42-17 rout of the Vols in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Dec. 21. . He was a man. Destroying personnel against Tennessee’s man coverage.
Smith will be a focal point for Oregon in the Rose Bowl game presented by Prudential when the two teams square off Wednesday in a rematch of their Oct. 12 game, which the Ducks won 32-31 in Eugene.
“They’re going to see a whole different player than last time,” said Smith, who caught nine passes for 100 yards and a touchdown in the first game against Oregon. “Even so [receivers] coach [Brian] Hartline told me the other day that I’m a completely different player than when I first played Oregon. It starts with understanding the game plan and knowing what the defense is trying to do.”
Smith said the entire Ohio State team was “upset” about a 13-10 home loss to Michigan to end the regular season and played that way against Tennessee. The same was true of the Buckeyes’ first loss, to Oregon earlier in the season, he said.
“We were ready to get that bad taste out of our mouths, let it all loose and dominate Tennessee,” Smith said. “It’s an opportunity to do it again.”
It was an “angry” team that went up against Tennessee, the Ohio State quarterback. Will Howard said.
“And you could see it,” Howard said. “And I think when we play like that, we’re tough to beat, and we’ve got to keep that mentality. I think that was really the difference, that anger, [being] Offended, that chip on our shoulder that we played with, and that’s going to be important in this game.”
The same goes for receiving the ball to Smith, who leads the team in receiving yards (1,037) and touchdown catches (12). He said he arrived on campus weighing 208 pounds but is now down to 225 — and hasn’t lost a step.
Senior cornerback Denzel Burke He is amazed every time he sees the 6-foot-3 Smith helpless against an opposing cornerback.
“He’s one of the best I’ve seen, and I think he’s going to be the best to come through, and I’ve seen and played with a lot of great guys,” Burke told the N.F. L receivers Garrett said, dismissing the names. Wilson, Chris Olave, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Jackson Smith-Njagba. “You see those qualities. He’s calm. His work ethic is crazy, and he performs on game day.
“He’s just different. He’s a dog. You don’t see that in an 18-year-old coming out of high school.”
Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who has been a head coach in both the college and NFL ranks, said Monday that he has yet to see a receiver quite like Smith.
“Not with that combination of size and speed and catching ability and ability to track the ball,” Kelly said. “There are other smaller guys who can do it and guys who were the same size, but they didn’t run and move like him. And then it’s his approach and mentality that makes him really special. .
“We sometimes have to practically pull it back. Some people with that skill set will be like, ‘No, I’ve got it.’ But he never wants to miss something because he wants it.”
Smith said the team’s leaders, both regulars and fifth-year seniors, have been instrumental in helping Ohio State weather the storm this season and get the Buckeyes to a point where they still have a close finish. There is a chance to win a national championship. Michigan and Oregon losses. The loss to the Wolverines was especially hard to stomach. Ohio State was a three-touchdown favorite and has now lost four straight in the rivalry after winning eight in a row.
“No one wants to lose [Michigan]. Everyone knows it, and I know the fans hate it. It’s been going on for the last two years, and I know they’re tired of it,” Smith said. “But we were going to move forward, and our team leaders were going to make sure that happened. . We were going to be ready for whoever we played first. [in the playoff]And I can promise you that we will be ready for this game and every one that follows.”
ESPN’s Pete Thimel contributed to this story.