Jeremiah Smith is licking his chops for matchup with Notre Dame

The Ohio State Buckeyes will likely need Jeremiah Smith to play like a superstar in the CFP National Championship Game and the freshman is certainly hoping that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish stick to their standard defensive coverage in the game.

As noted by Paolo Uggetti of ESPN, Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith told reporters that if the Irish play their standard man-to-man coverage in the title game, the playmaker "can't wait to put on a show".

The freshman says that Notre Dame plays "man-to-man defense "80%" of the time". Smith was limited in the team's 28-14 win over Texas as the WR only had one reception for 3 yards. The Florida native was not silent throughout the Buckeyes' playoff run as he caught 7 receptions for 183 yards in the program's blowout win over Oregon. He also cleared the 100-yard mark in the first round win over Tennessee.

The Oregon game stands out in terms of the matchup Smith is looking forward to with the Irish. Much to the delight of the freshman receiver and Chip Kelly, the Ducks came out manning up heavily with the Buckeyes receivers but were no match for the all-world newcomer.

Jeremiah Smith licking his chops for title game matchup with Notre Dame

Smith is coming off an extremely impressive first season where he caught 71 receptions for 1,227 yards and 14 touchdowns. In a season where other playmakers were set to take charge of Ryan Day and Kelly's offense, the freshman has been the top playmaker for the program. As the Buckeyes try to win their first title since 2014, it's clear that the wide receiver is hoping that Notre Dame will play man coverage.

Notre Dame might not be able to stop Smith as much as the Longhorns were able to, especially with Benjamin Morrison sidelined with a season-ending hip injury, but it's possible that the Irish run game could be good enough to give their defense some leeway.

Even if Notre Dame is able to find ways to slow down Smith, either in double coverage or with more zone, that still opens up doors for Ohio State. If they commit more bodies to stifling the freshman, then playmakers like Emeka Egbuka and Carnell Tate, among others, will have more room to operate and could shine like both did against Texas.

While it might be a bit of cockiness from Smith to proclaim he can put on a show against Notre Dame if they man up in single coverage against him, he also might not be wrong, though. That's something that both the Irish and the Buckeyes alike will have a keen eye on as they look to decide the first national champion of the 12-team era.