March 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n\n\tAsked what he thought went wrong on that play, Smith didn\u2019t have a specific answer, giving credit to Scott for making a \u201cgreat football player.\u201d But he\u2019s seen the criticism he\u2019s received for that play on social media, and it remains in the back of his mind as he prepares for his junior season with the Buckeyes.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI won’t say I think about it, but it’s something that’s always in the back of my head,\u201d Smith said. \u201cEspecially after that game, it was just always on my timeline, on Instagram and stuff like that.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\tGoing into his likely final season as a Buckeye, Smith has continued to work as hard as ever, earning Iron Buckeye honors for the fourth time in three years for his performance during winter workouts. While Smith is already firmly established as the best wide receiver in college football, a projected top-five pick in the 2027 NFL draft and on pace to break Ohio State\u2019s all-time records for catches, receiving yards and touchdowns, he\u2019s far from complacent with what he\u2019s accomplished so far.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI’m always trying to find ways to get better. Always trying to find ways this offseason to advance my IQ of the game, be better at yards after the catch,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI’m still the hardest working person on the team. It don\u2019t matter, all the accolades and stuff I got, I still got a mentality that I’m gonna always be the hardest working player on my team. No matter if it\u2019s in the league \u2013 I was in high school, the hardest-working player on my team, and in the NFL, I’m gonna be the hardest-working player on the team. So that’s something that’s been installed in me as a little kid, and that’s the only thing I know how to do is work hard.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a humbling moment, and just coming into this offseason, I\u2019m gonna push myself to exhaustion and never make that play happen again.\u201d\u2013 Jeremiah Smith on the motivation he\u2019s drawing from Ohio State\u2019s loss to Miami\n<\/p>\n
\n\tNew Ohio State wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton is among those who have been impressed by how hard Smith has worked this offseason.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHe’s a generational talent, but more importantly, he’s a fine young man. He’s a great kid. And he yearns to learn football,\u201d Hankton said. \u201cHe yearns to be coached. And he’s like that every single day. He’s been a sponge. We’ve put a lot on his plate, but he’s handled it well.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe loss to Miami hurt Smith not only because it ended Ohio State\u2019s season, but because it came against his hometown team \u2013 a team that tried extremely hard to flip him away from his Ohio State commitment, and whom he all but confirmed made another push to try to convince him to transfer in January.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI knew especially at the end of that game that a certain program was gonna come at me very hard,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI’m not gonna say no names. I think everybody here knows who it was. But I wasn’t surprised.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\tSmith, however, said there was never any question in his mind that he\u2019d be back at Ohio State for another year.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI was always gonna be at Ohio State,\u201d Smith said with a laugh.\n<\/p>\n