It didn’t take long for Jeremiah Smith to begin stringing together highlights in Ohio State’s season-opening win over Ball State.
Smith slipped behind the Cardinals’ zone coverage during the middle of the first quarter, emerging past a safety as a pass from quarterback Julian Sayin dropped into his grasp.
Though Smith was only level with the coverage when Sayin spotted him downfield, they had a chance to strike.
Sayin saw Smith had leverage over the safety, having caught him flat-footed as he broke toward the sideline, prompting him to arch a pass toward the pylon in Ohio Stadium’s north end. The deep ball resulted in a 48-yard touchdown.
“Jeremiah made a great catch and ran a great route,” Sayin said.
Smith hauled in another touchdown later in the second
quarter when he made a toe-tapping catch along the end zone’s back line, leading him to strike the Heisman Trophy pose in immediate celebration.
While the arrival of new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith has added intrigue to how the Buckeyes might evolve under influence of the seasoned NFL play-caller, especially one who was heralded for his background in the running game, their 56-3 rout of the Cardinals on Sept. 5 offered a reminder of one constant element.
Jeremiah Smith remains the centerpiece of the Buckeyes’ high-scoring offense.
“As you can imagine, when the game plan’s being put together, he's very much in the front of Arthur and the offensive staff's mind,” coach Ryan Day.
Smith did not appear in the second half after the score had grown lopsided. Day acknowledged the prospect of the following week’s game at Texas, a top-five matchup between the blue bloods, as a factor in them conserving his workload.
“He understands we've got a monster game,” Day said.
But the first and second quarters showed how much of a factor Smith, arguably the best player in college football, is likely to be in his third year at Ohio State, as well as his growing chemistry between him and Sayin, who enters his second season as the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback.
The Buckeyes ran 40 plays in the first half and targeted Smith on 10 of them, resulting in eight catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns and one run for 5 yards, a handoff that came on a sweep in the second quarter.
“Not everything is designed that way,” Day said, “but I thought the game plan was suited to make sure he touched the ball.”
Sayin leaned on Smith the most on their touchdown drive just before halftime. The Buckeyes had gained possession at only their 10-yard line with 1:15 left in the second quarter, but as they moved nearly the entire length of the field, Sayin found Smith for five completions resulting in 74 yards.
Their connection was most evident on the 3-yard touchdown to cap the drive. Smith was moving toward the middle portion of the end zone, drawing coverage from Ball State, before Sayin placed a pass near his back shoulder. Smith snagged it and kept his feet in bounds along the back line for the score.
“We kind knew each other’s thinking to go back shoulder like that,” Sayin said. “We just need to continue to grow that.”
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow him on @joeyrkaufman on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football has a new offensive coordinator, but Jeremiah Smith remains a constant
