Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith announced himself as one the best players in college football last season as a true freshman. With the changes to the Buckeyes’ offense this offseason, though, Urban Meyer wonders if his sophomore season could now be much more difficult than his first was. Meyer shared that thought on Thursday while […]
Ohio StateWR Jeremiah Smith announced himself as one the best players in college football last season as a true freshman. With the changes to the Buckeyes’ offense this offseason, though, Urban Meyer wonders if his sophomore season could now be much more difficult than his first was.
Meyer shared that thought on Thursday while appearing on ‘The Herd’ with Colin Cowherd. He noted how Smith lost all of aspects that he thinks can help a great receiver, which were an established run game by the quarterback and backfield as well as a respected number-two receiver alongside him.
“Let me say this about Jeremiah too, and I’m going to do this on ‘Big Noon'” said Meyer. “He had a great scenario last year. So, an elite wide receiver’s best friends are, number one? A running quarterback. Will Howard – they had that. Number two? A strong run game. They had that with two terrific running backs. And, number three? A strong number two. That was Emeka Egbuka. All three of those guys were gone. The running quarterback is gone, the strong running game is gone, and Emeka is gone. So, we’re going to see how he does.”
“It was perfect scenario for this talented guy last year. This year, it’s completely different,” Meyer said. “Obviously, he still is as talented as you got. But, teams will not leave him singled up unless they can’t. And, if you don’t have a run game, you can put two guys on him.”
With what all that Ohio State had last year on offense, Smith was a top priority, but not the only priority when defending them. Howard (226 rushing yards, seven touchdowns) along with RBs Quinshon Judkins and (1,060 rushing yards, 14 TDs) and TreVeyon Henderson (1,016 rushing yards, 10 TDs) helped account for the team’s average of 166.4 rushing yards per game. Then, opposite him, Egbuka was a top target in his own right with career-best numbers of 81 receptions for 1,011 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Now, Ohio State has swapped Howard for more of a passing quarterback in Julian Sayin, Henderson and Judkins for James Peoples and CJ Donaldson, and Egbuka for Carnell Tate. That’s a lot of change around a player that’s still going to be one of the game’s best regardless.
That said, with those changes, Meyer thinks teams can focus more defensively on Smith. He compared it to what Texas, ironically this season’s opening opponent, did in their playoff semifinal when the Longhorns held him to his worst outing by far with just one catch for three yards during the Cotton Bowl.
“Last year, Texas? I just finished the film yesterday,” said Meyer. “I called it the ‘Stop Jeremiah Defense’. Not one time did they leave Jeremiah by himself.”
Smith is undoubtedly going to get his numbers anyways as a pro-ready wideout already. Still, this season, at least the start of it, could pose a challenge to him as defensive units center all their attention on No. 4.
Category: General Sports
