COLUMBUS, Ohio — Julian Sayin said the ball has not gone to Jeremiah Smith in Ohio State Buckeyes games against Texas, and that he had chances to change that last season and did not take them.
Smith has 7 catches on 13 targets for 46 yards in two meetings with the Texas Longhorns. Those are the worst and seventh-worst receiving games of his career.
“Whether it’s certain coverage or something like that, they tried to double-team him or whatever it was. I think sometimes the ball didn’t go his way,” Sayin said. “I think there were opportunities maybe even last year where I could have taken the ball towards him, and so, I wouldn’t say they limited him in any aspect.”
Last season’s opener in Columbus was Sayin’s first college start. He completed 13-of-20 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown in a 14-7 win. Half of his attempts went to Smith. Sayin completed 2 passes of longer than 10 yards downfield in the game, and all 6 of Smith’s catches came within 6 yards of the line of scrimmage.
In the 2025 College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl, Smith caught 1 pass for 3 yards.
Smith’s average depth of target across his career is 12.3 yards. Against Texas last season it was 3.7 yards.
Ryan Day On Getting Jeremiah Smith The Football
Ohio State coach Ryan Day said Smith will always factor into how the Buckeyes build a plan, and that the staff is balancing him against the rest of the personnel on the field.
“It’s no mystery that when the ball is in his hands, good things happen, and so he’ll always be a part of how we game plan and what we do,” Day said. “We do have other guys certainly on the field, and there’s a balance that we’re striking, but we all know the impact it can have on games, and when he has the impact like he’s done in other games, you see what happens to the rest of the guys on the field.”
“But I’ve said it before, what makes a great player great, he makes everybody on the field better, and certainly Jeremiah does that,” Day continued. “But, yeah, we’re going to work hard to make sure that he has a major impact on the game.”
Smith caught 8 passes for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first half against Ball State on Sept. 5 and did not play the second half. He has gone for at least 120 receiving yards in three straight games and in five of his last seven.
Since arriving at Ohio State in 2024, Smith leads the country in receptions with 171, receiving yards with 2,709, and touchdown catches with 29.
Smith was not made available to the media during game week. After the Ball State win, he spoke in a television interview.
“I’m always looking forward to a matchup like this. You want to play big games. So I’m always excited for the big ones,” Smith said. “They are definitely loaded, have a great defense and we have to be prepared for that.”
Arthur Smith And The New Ohio State Offense
Ohio State hired Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator before this season. Texas brought back Will Muschamp as defensive coordinator, his second stint in Austin.
Day said the plan to stop Smith is coming, and that identifying it and having answers ready is where Sayin comes in.
“But we know that there’ll be a plan to stop Jeremiah and try to identify what that is, and then have the contingency plans in place for what that looks like is important,” Day said. “And Julian is going to be a big part of that because he’s got to recognize what’s going on and then respond from there. So all those things are part of our conversation as we put our game plan together.”
Sayin was 21-of-25 for 320 yards and 3 touchdowns in the opener.
Kickoff at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium is 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday on ABC. Ohio State is 1-0 and ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25. Texas is 1-0 and ranked No. 4.
