Jeremiah Smith warns remaining CFP teams with bold claim no one can refute yet

In the run-up to Ohio State's College Football Playoff quarterfinal showdown with Oregon at the Rose Bowl, Buckeyes freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith was very open about how confident he felt in his abilities.

"I'm just laughing in my head," Smith told reporters during his media availability before the game. "Why are y'all really playing man-on-man against us, or against me, I should say? And when we see man against any of our receivers, we're going to take a shot down the field."

But Smith wasn't done. Despite catching nine balls for 100 yards and a score during the teams' first meeting back in October, he vowed to do even better in the rematch, warning Oregon that "they're going to see a completely different player than the last time."

Of course, you can say all you want when you back it up like Smith did in Pasadena on New Year's Day, lighting up Dan Lanning's defense for 187 yards and two touchdowns in a shockingly dominant 41-21 win. And as if that weren't enough to have any future defenses worried, Smith was back at the mic after the game.

Jeremiah Smith throws down the gauntlet after huge Rose Bowl performance

That's now consecutive 100-yard games and a combined 290 yards and three scores over Ohio State's two playoff games for Smith, who no one has figured out how to stop yet. And it seems like he's expecting even bigger things to come in the Buckeyes' semifinal matchup: When asked by Rece Davis whether anybody can stop him, Smith's answer was simple.

And hey, no matter how you feel about trash talk, it's hard to take issue with it when you back it up to the extent that Smith has — not just in the CFP, but really all season long. Comparisons to a player like Julio Jones should be made very, very sparingly, but it's hard to avoid that sort of hyperbole when you him watch him play (and remember that he just turned 19 last month). This combination of size, speed and ball skills doesn't come around all that often, and he seems to only be getting better as the season goes on.