Jeremiah Smith Goes Viral: Top-Ranked Receiver’s Stunning Highlights & Commitment Buzz Explained

Ohio State star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is once again dominating college-football headlines after a pair of viral moments that captured how dramatically he tilts defensive game plans. During last week’s 38-17 win over Minnesota, five Golden Gopher defenders sprinted toward Smith on a deep post, only to watch quarterback Julian Sayin float the ball to an uncovered Carnell Tate for an easy touchdown—prompting Smith to laugh at the swarm mid-play. The incident publicized a trend Big Ten coordinators quietly admit in closed-door meetings: double- and even triple-team coverage on the 6-foot-3, 195-pound sophomore is now standard procedure. “It’s frustrating,” Smith conceded this week. “They’re trying to take me out of the game, but that leaves the other guys wide open”. Those “other guys” include Tate, fellow second-year receiver Brandon Inniss and hybrid tight end Max Klare—targets who are torching single coverage thanks to the perpetual gravity Smith exerts. Head coach Ryan Day welcomed the tactical trade-off, warning opposing defenses that focusing on one Buckeye is a losing proposition. Yet the coverage craze has not completely subdued Smith’s own production. Through six games he still ranks second in the conference in receiving yards (674) and touchdowns (7), with an explosive-play rate (receptions of 20+ yards) above 30 percent. Draft analysts have taken notice; Dane Brugler recently bumped Smith into his top five 2026 prospects, calling him “a LeBron-level mismatch on the perimeter”. Inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, teammates echo that sentiment. “Defenses can’t just worry about me now,” Smith said, crediting Tate’s emergence for forcing secondaries to pick their poison. Klare added that Smith’s pre-snap alignments—often stacked or motioned—create instant mismatches the offense exploits with option routes. The Buckeyes travel to Champaign this Saturday to defend the Illibuck Trophy against Illinois, whose defensive coordinator Aaron Henry acknowledged the “problem” Smith presents. Expect the Illini to shade safety help over the top while disguising bracket coverage underneath; however, that strategy leaves them vulnerable to Ohio State’s power run game and play-action crossers that Day has dialed up with ruthless efficiency. For Smith, the immediate goal is team success, but NFL chatter is impossible to ignore. Scouts rave about his catch radius, flexible hips and track-star acceleration—a toolkit that could make him the program’s second consecutive top-10 receiver drafted. “All that will come if I keep winning routes and we keep winning games,” Smith said after practice. “The rest takes care of itself.” As October unfolds, fans and analysts alike are discovering that stopping Jeremiah Smith may be college football’s most impossible assignment. Shut him down, and Ohio State’s supporting cast gashes you; give him single coverage, and highlight-reel plays follow. Either way, the sophomore’s magnetic presence continues to shape the Buckeyes’ championship push—one defensive scramble at a time.