Ohio State isn't afraid to force Jeremiah Smith the ball to avoid another dud

Smith was held silent in the Buckeyes' CFP semifinal win over Texas, and Ryan Day is committed to making sure that doesn't repeat itself against Notre Dame.
Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential - Ohio State V Oregon
Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential - Ohio State V Oregon / Kevork Djansezian/GettyImages
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Ohio State was able to gut out a nail-biting win over Texas last week to reach the College Football Playoff national championship game. But the Buckeyes did so while getting basically no production from their best offensive player, star freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who recorded just one catch for three yards.

Much of that wasn't Smith's fault. After watching him go off in CFP wins over Tennessee and Oregon, the Longhorns' elite secondary came into the Cotton Bowl determined to force anyone other than Smith to beat them. Texas had a safety over the top of No. 4 on pretty much every snap, rerouting the ball underneath to players like Carnell Tate (eight receptions, 87 yards) and Emeka Egbuka (five receptions, 51 yards).

You can bet that Notre Dame was paying attention, and that defensive coordinator Al Golden will employ a similar strategy in the title game on Monday night. But no matter how the Irish decide to handle Smith, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day sounds determined to make sure his go-to receiver doesn't have a second straight invisible performance.

Ryan Day vows to get Jeremiah Smith more involved against Notre Dame

In a Zoom meeting with reporters on Tuesday, Day was asked about Smith's stat line in the Cotton Bowl and whether it was simply a byproduct of Ohio State adjusting to Texas' defense. But Day wouldn't take the bait: Apparently the team is going to try and feed the ball to Smith no matter what, and just needs to execute better against Notre Dame. Per ESPN's Andrea Adelson:

"It's a little bit more about execution than it is anything else. We weren't able to sustain a few of those drives and connect on a couple other plays. [Smith is] obviously a huge part of our offense, so there's different ways that teams will adjust based on what he's done and what he's capable of. We'll identify what those are in this game and then go from there."

Ohio State did try one deep shot to Smith in the first quarter against Texas, but the pass from Will Howard was a little bit too high. Other than that, though, it was hard for Smith to find room, no matter what Day and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly cooked up.

Things might be different against the Irish, though. Unlike Texas, Golden loves to play man coverage with just one deep safety and get aggressive, even with star cornerback Benjamin Morrison out for the year due to injury. Maybe he'll deploy a totally different plan in his team's biggest game of the year, but if not, that's sure to present Smith and Ohio State with more opportunities to make plays down the field. And in what figures to be a tight, low-scoring game between two great defenses, those plays could wind up making all the difference.