Jeremiah Smith’s celebrity status was on full display on Sunday.
Fans began lining up as early as 2 a.m. for Smith’s autograph session on Sunday at the Dick’s Sporting Goods House of Sport in Polaris. By the time he arrived at 2:30 p.m., the line of Buckeye fans eager for a chance to meet Ohio State’s superstar wide receiver stretched from end to end of the 100,000-square-foot store.
Line stretching across the store of Ohio State fans waiting their turn for a chance to meet Jeremiah Smith, whos signing autographs at the Dicks Sporting Goods House of Sport at Polaris this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/K5QPG08rIZ
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) August 17, 2025
The roar when Smith entered the store to greet his fans could have been mistaken for a Taylor Swift concert as many young fans hovered around the edges of the line just hoping to get a glimpse and a cell-phone picture of the Buckeyes’ standout pass-catcher.
A HUGE crowd at the Dicks House of Sport in Polaris for a meet-and-greet with #Buckeyes star WR Jeremiah Smith pic.twitter.com/fPQPkgLScF
— Kellyanne Stitts (@KellyanneStitts) August 17, 2025
Smith embraced the opportunity to bring joy to Ohio State fans on Sunday.
“I enjoy it a lot. I like to put smiles on people's faces,” Smith said in an interview before the autograph session began.
While Sunday presented an opportunity for fans to meet Smith, Buckeye Nation won’t have to wait much longer to see Smith play football again. In just 13 days, Smith and the Buckeyes will play Texas in their season opener at Ohio Stadium. And Smith is as eager as anyone for the season to get started.
“I'm starting to feel it now. I'm starting to get back into football mode. I can't wait to go out and put on a show in two weeks,” Smith said.
Smith said the excitement for the season can be felt throughout the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
“You can feel it in the facility. Everybody's excited. Everybody's ready to go,” Smith said.
With less than two weeks to go until the Texas game, the big question still surrounding Ohio State’s offense is who will lead the Buckeyes at quarterback this season. While Ryan Day could name a starting quarterback during his press conference on Monday, Smith didn’t give anything away about who leads the competition between Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz on Sunday.
That said, Smith praised both quarterbacks for how they’ve performed through the first two-and-a-half weeks of preseason camp.
“Both of them did a great job this camp. Both of them guys led us throughout the whole camp, and I just can't wait to see how things play out in the first game and the next two weeks we have coming up,” Smith said.
While both Smith and fellow wide receiver Carnell Tate said during a Big Ten Network interview on Aug. 7 that it had been “hard to get a drive going” with Kienholz and Sayin splitting reps, Smith said the Buckeyes have found their rhythm with both quarterbacks now, giving him confidence in their ability to win with either one of them.
“We’ve definitely gotten into our rhythm. Both guys, they did a great job these two weeks. And we're just building that chemistry with them, and we just can't wait to see how things play out,” Smith said.
Flanked by Tate and newly minted captain Brandon Inniss, Smith said he believes Ohio State’s wide receivers can be even better than they were a year ago, when Smith, Emeka Egbuka and Tate combined for 209 catches, 3,059 yards and 29 touchdowns.
“I feel like we got everything that you want in our room right now,” Smith said. “I mean, last year, we were great, but this year I feel like we’ll be even better.”
Smith is hungry to start the season off with a big game after Texas held him to just one catch for three yards in last season’s College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl, easily his least productive game of his freshman season.
“It motivates me a lot. I know I didn't really have a great game last year. This game is gonna be a different outcome,” Smith said.
That said, Smith knows the Buckeyes still have a lot of work to do over the next two weeks to prepare for hosting the No. 1 team in the preseason polls.
“We’ve still got a lot of improvement to do, but I feel like we took a big step this week,” Smith said. “We got another step to take this week as well, so I just can't wait to see how things play out the next two weeks.”
