Jeremiah Smith has done just about everything there is to do from an individual standpoint in an Ohio State jersey. He's already going down as one of the best wide receivers to play at the college level -- so how does a team like Iowa prep the week leading into the matchup?
"It's like (Antwaan) Randle El 28 years ago," Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. "How do you duplicate that guy unless you get a guy off the basketball team maybe who's got that kind of quickness and mobility?"
As Ferentz is hinting, there is no way to replicate a guy like Jeremiah Smith on the practice field. Smith, who has hauled in 33 receptions for 617 yards and seven touchdowns this year, is coming off of a 12-catch, 217-yard and four-touchdown outing in the Big Ten opener
against Illinois.
"It's hard," Ferentz said. "We have to work on our technique, and like I said, I'll go back to what I was saying a little while ago. Sometimes you can have him perfectly defended and he'll still make a play. That's what great players do, that's what puts him in a really separate category."
Ferentz is leaning on his previous head-to-head matchup to understand that it's highly unlikely the Hawkeyes defense will completely eliminate the production from the All-American come Saturday.
"This guy - I remember two years ago getting ready, a couple plays he had made the week before that he's perfectly defended and he still makes the play. Sometimes that's the way it goes," Ferentz said. "I remember being up in New England's camp late 2000s and seeing Randy Moss do the same thing on a red zone play. I was sitting next to the secondary coach and he looked at me and just went like -- That's what great players do (shrugging)."
Iowa is one of just five schools to keep Smith under five receptions in a game throughout his career, however. He had four receptions for 89 yards and a touchdown in the lone matchup with the Hawkeyes back in 2024 as a freshman.
The biggest emphasis for Ferentz and the rest of the Iowa staff and players revolves around rhythm. If they can force Smith out of his normal rhythm, good things may come. Part of it can be forcing Julian Sayin to find other receivers. Smith has more than double the amount of catches then the next closest player on the Ohio State roster.
"If you can find a way to maybe make them a little bit off their rhythm, that's a good thing," Ferentz said. "But that's easier said than done. Then usually if you do one thing, you're compensating somewhere else or just giving something else somewhere else. It's a tricky one."
Smith -- at 6-foot-4 and 222-pounds -- will likely be matched up with 5-foot-11 and 187-pound corner Jaylen Watson from Iowa. With a clear size advantage, Watson is focused on one thing.
"I think it's being physical, having the utmost confidence. We're here for a reason," he said. " For him to be that size, his speed, his strength, his ability to go up there and get the ball, his ability to run past people also, he's a great player. He's a superstar for a reason. So I'm definitely looking forward to the challenge Saturday."
With College GameDay in Iowa City, the atmosphere could not be better. Can Ohio State adjust to one of the best defenses it'll face all year?
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: 'He's a superstar': Iowa discusses defending OSU's Jeremiah Smith
