For starters….This 72-yard catch-and-run in the first quarter was Jeremiah’s Smith’s longest of the day…limited only by the fact that the field is only a hundred yards long. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
The standard for pass catchers at Ohio State parlayed a triple-crown career day of receptions, yards and touchdowns to lead the Buckeyes past plucky Illinois.
Columbus, OH – Wise watchers of college football declare Jeremiah Smith the No. 1 player in all the land, from one of his outstretched arms to the other.
Even without a Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best receiver – explain that one – everyone admits he is the standard. No one else measures up. Not even close.
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So how does the prodigy who wowed stadiums, tailgaters and TV viewers for two seasons to earn that title, get noticeably better?
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He’s not afraid of a challenge. But not just the types you think. His humble approach, his desire to get better, keeps him from becoming complacent.
“My coaches always challenge me, and that’s what I want them to do,” he said. “I’m a good player, but I’m always listening to my coaches. I’ll always be open-minded to everybody.”
And he’s always open.
Illinois tried to cover him one-on-one, tried to bracket him with more than one defender, tried things Bret Bielema’s defense has probably never tried against anyone else or ever will again.
Like many before them, the Illini failed and flailed at trying anything to stop Smith. They failed at a rate that turned a beautiful Saturday afternoon in the Horseshoe into the career day of career days for the player who should get more Heisman Trophy consideration than many voters will grant.
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Jeremiah Smith, the marvel from Miami Gardens, Florida, set career highs with 12 receptions, 217 yards and four touchdowns. His catches and Julian Sayin’s on-target throws led the No. 7 Buckeyes to a 42-19 victory over unranked Illinois in their Big Ten opener.
“He’s taking this game to the next level this year,” head Buckeye Ryan Day said. “When we looked at him the first couple years, it was hard to say, ‘OK, how can he get better?’ And you’re seeing it.”
You can’t catch it unless it’s thrown. Julian Sayin completed 27 of 36 for 367 yards and four touchdowns – all four to Jeremiah Smith.
The day wasn’t all sunshine and flowers. Illinois exposed some defensive issues with 462 total yards, but more on that later. This is a day to celebrate Jeremiah Smith, and it won’t be the last.
The challenges Smith took from new receivers coach Cortez Hankton: improve route running and yards after the catch.
He can do that, he figured. And he has.
Actually, Smith is trending toward his freshman form when 37.5% of his receiving yards came after the catch, buoyed by a lot of slants that turned into big gains. Last year he slipped to 16.2%. This season he’s at 24.1%, thanks in large part to Saturday’s 72-yard touchdown catch that accounted for most of his 53 YAC yards.
Great route running leads to more YAC. And Smith promises he’s worked to sharpen that skill and not just rely on his size and strength, of which, at 6-foot-4 and 222 pounds, he has plenty.
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“I’ve gotten better this whole year,” he said. “Big thanks to all my coaches, especially Coach Hank. My route running has gotten so much better from my freshman year to now.”
Day had all of Smith’s big plays on a highlight reel in his head.
Defensive back Devin Sanchez shows textbook form to break up an Illini pass attempt in the first half of Saturday’s win.
“We saw a couple balls where he caught the ball on the line of scrimmage, made a guy miss for 12 yards,” Day said. “Then he makes a spectacular catch in the corner of the end zone, wins on a fade, wins on a home run post, wins on a double move.”
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The first touchdown capped an opening drive full of a mix of run-pass rhythm, a trend that continued on succeeding touchdown drives at a more aesthetically pleasing rate than at any time this season. Out of a running formation, Sayin found Smith for a seven-yard score on a back-shoulder throw in the left side of the end zone.
The post that Day mentioned came a few minutes later and put the Buckeyes up 14-0 with 3:39 left in the first quarter. Smith broke open down the seam when Devin McCuin ran an out pattern to the sideline. The cornerback went with McCuin, and safety Mac Resetich drew the short straw of trying to hang with Smith.
After the catch with Resetich lagging behind, Smith went to work on his YAC total. He made three moves in the middle of the field, corkscrewing the final one into the new, plush Ohio Stadium turf. Before the season Day said the turf was Jeremiah approved. Now we know why.
“You can see the effort, like, ‘Oh, I’m getting in the end zone on this play,’ and so the more we can put him in those situations, we’re going to try to do that,” Day said. “Because God knows that not only is he fast but he’s big and hard to get down in the open field.”
Touchdown No. 3 increased the lead to 21-7 on the basic nine-yard fade to the end zone that required his special skills. He pinned the ball to himself with one hand and got his inside foot down in the end zone before his outside foot touched down out of bounds.
Sophomore linebacker Riley Pettijohn closes in on a sack of Illini quarterback Katin Houser…one of three sacks on the day.
With 10 minutes left in the game, Smith knew he would score on the next play when he lined up on the right side. Sayin said he and slot receiver Devin McCuin knew it too.
Smith’s double move, first to the inside, then up the sideline left him wide open for Sayin for an easy backyard 26-yard toss, increasing the lead to 35-13.
Smith’s four touchdowns tied him with Noah Brown (2016), Dane Sanzenbacher (2010), Terry Glenn (1995) and Bob Grimes (1952).
Smith caught his final pass on the Buckeyes’ final scoring drive that finished on Ja’Kobi Jackson’s two-yard run. Did Smith advocate for a fifth touchdown?
“No, I’m pretty good with four,” he said and smiled.
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Sayin would have obliged had the play been called. He wouldn’t have minded another touchdown throw on his prodigious stat line of 27-of-36, 367 yards and the four Smith touchdowns. But Sayin’s day was even bigger than that.
What else, you might wonder, did this day reveal?
Jeremiah Smith gave the sign after his fourth catch for a score with 10 minutes left in the game.
Sayin can run when he wants to. He rushed for five first downs, scrambling for two and sneaking for three. He avoided being sacked and finished with 29 yards on seven carries.
The highlight, of course, was his 10-yard scramble from the right side of the pocket to a dive inside the left pylon with 15 seconds left in the first half for a 28-10 lead. The touchdown capped a two-minute drive situation and gave the Buckeyes a touchdown in the final 15 seconds of each half this season.
The offensive line rushed to celebrate with their quarterback. “I’ve never seen the offensive line down there that quick,” Sayin said.
Sayin’s willingness to run for first downs when the pass plays broke down was another product of a star player accepting the challenge from Day to be the X factor.
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“Last week there were opportunities for me to extend the play and get us conversions on third down in the red zone,” Sayin said. “He’s just coaching hard. He coaches the quarterbacks hard.”
Day is also coaching the running backs hard, calling them out this week for not making explosive runs when opportunities to do so existed last week against Kent State. Against Illinois, they rushed for 124 of the team’s 151 ground yards.
“There were times there where I thought it was good, there were times where I thought there was maybe a little bit more,” Day said. “We’ll watch the film and see.”
That leaves the defense for the last part of the discussion of Saturday’s memorable offensive output. The Illini piled up 462 yards to Ohio State’s 518.
Illini coach Bret Bielema registers his formal complaint with officials over having to play with just eleven men against Jeremiah Smith.
Quarterback Katin Houser directed an offense that created 15 explosive plays to Ohio State’s 12 – eight on the ground (10 yards or more) and seven through the air (15 yards or more).
“There were too many big plays today,” Day said. “There was probably more pressure, little more man-to-man, and some of those balls squirted out and created explosive plays. So we have to get on the film and make corrections.”
Houser finished 21-of-37 for 263 yards, a touchdown and was sacked twice. The Illini running game reached 199 yards led by Aidan Laughery’s 113 on 11 carries.
“They just had some good run game stuff that kind of messed with our scheme a little bit,” linebacker Payton Pierce said. “I can make some more checks to help us in those situations. It’s little things that we can fix, and we’ll get it fixed.”
Almost a perfect, blue-sky, in-the-70s Saturday for the 101,452 who witnessed another victory in Columbus.
Wait, three hours later, Michigan lost to Iowa on the final play.
A perfect Saturday indeed.
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