Ryan Day: Jeremiah Smith 'built different,' sometimes 'don't even think he's quite human'
Ohio State star freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith did not disappoint in his college football debut on Saturday, hauling in six catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns. The Buckeyes started out slow against Akron, but eventually got things rolling thanks to some big-time plays from Smith and many others. Following Ohio State’s 52-6 rout of Akron, head coach Ryan Day had some glowing remarks of his uber-talented freshman in his post-game press conference.
Even though Smith had a few drops early in the game, Day had no qualms about letting his superstar play through his mistakes. “You could see the talent. And like you said, we’re gonna play right through just about all of it. You know, I think he’s another guy. I mean, you know, sometimes you look at him, and you don’t even think he’s quite human. But he is,” Day smiled.
“And you know, he’s gonna make a few early mistakes, but not very many. You can see the talent there. He’s gonna sleep good tonight, though, I tell you that. And I think they all need to get some rest tonight. It was a long week. It was a hot week. We practiced really hard. We practiced Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in pads. Physical, for a reason. And it was hot out there today. That’s good. It was hard. And they’ll sleep good tonight and we’ll get back at it tomorrow,” Day explained.
Then a reporter from The Athletic asked Day about how much he’s wanted his players to play through adversity. What does it say about Smith’s character, with his ability to put his mistakes behind him and still have a spectacular debut?
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“He’s built different. He is. Just the way his approach is. You can see his size and speed and all of that. But typically somebody with that type of talent doesn’t have the discipline, the focus that he does. And so, nobody even batted an eye. Nobody said a word. Like it was just you’re gonna play through this and we’re gonna be fine. It wasn’t even a consideration, because we see what he does everyday in practice. And we knew he was gonna settle in,” Day explained.
More on Jeremiah Smith and his high school career
Smith is expected to make quite the splash for the Buckeyes in his first year. He’s off to an exceptional start. He’ll be an exciting one to watch. Smith was rated as the No. 1 overall player in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. There’s been steady buzz around his play ever since he set foot in Columbus in the spring.
The hype is well deserved, as he’s been dominant from the second he set foot in Columbus, making plenty of amazing highlight reel grabs like this one. He racked up an extensive number of accolades at Chaminade-Madonna Prep (Miami Gardens, Florida). In 14 games as a senior, he hauled in 88 catches for 1,376 yards and 19 touchdowns. In his final high school game, Smith shined bright on the biggest of stages–the state championship game. He hauled in 11 catches for 170 yards and a touchdown, helping his team roll to a 56-0 route to capture the state title.
In a win against one of the nation’s top football powerhouses, Bergen Catholic (New Jersey), Smith shredded their secondary to the tune of 316 receiving yards and three touchdowns in just three quarters of play. Chaminade-Madonna Prep finished as the nation’s No. 2 ranked team and finished the season 14-0 in 2023. In his final two seasons of high school football, Smith finished with 151 catches for 2,474 yards and 39 touchdowns while playing in 28 games.