Three Stars of the Game: Jeremiah Smith, Arvell Reese and Caden Curry Earn Top Honors For Their Performance

This week, Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, linebacker Arvell Reese and defensive end Caden Curry were the Buckeyes' top performers in the team's 37-9 win over the Ohio Bobcats.

First Star: Jeremiah Smith

The Eleven Warriors Star of the Year in 2024, Smith earned three First Stars, two Second Stars and two Third Stars throughout his breakout freshman campaign. Following his standout performance against Ohio, Smith is well on his way to another — not without competition, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

Smith had a career-high nine catches (on 12 targets) for 153 yards and one touchdown against Ohio. He also carried the ball once for 17 yards and one score, capitalizing on a designed reverse that had him run behind a convoy of Max Klare, Carson Hinzman and Austin Siereveld into the end zone.

Smith, the 2024 Big Ten Receiver of the Year, has 20 catches for 315 yards and four total touchdowns this season. Most of that production has come in the past two weeks, as the star pass catcher had six receptions for 43 yards against Texas and five receptions for 119 yards and two touchdowns against Grambling State (earning our Third Star in Week 2).

Second Star: Arvell Reese

What can’t Reese do?

Through three games as a starter, the Cleveland native has 20 tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks and two pass breakups. That includes the seven tackles, one sack and two passes defensed he recorded in Ohio State’s win over Ohio.

“He played great. Arvell is awesome. He can do so many different things on the field,” Ohio State Block O recipient and captain Sonny Styles said after the game. “It’s no surprise to me. I’ve seen him do it in the training camp and throughout spring. Him making those plays in the game now, it’s no surprise at all.”

Reese was one of four Buckeyes to record a sack on Saturday, along with Curry, Kayden McDonald and Beau Atkinson.

Speaking of Curry…

Third Star: Caden Curry

When Atkinson transferred from North Carolina to Ohio State, the assumption was that he would take Curry’s spot opposite Kenyatta Jackson Jr. in the starting lineup. However, in the Buckeyes’ first three games, it’s been Curry, not Atkinson, who has been on the field first — and Curry has made the most of his opportunities.

In Ohio State’s wins over Texas, Grambling State and Ohio, Curry has collected 14 tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks and one pass breakup. The Greenwood, Indiana, native shined for the Buckeyes on Saturday, recording four tackles, one tackle for loss, one sack and a deflected pass at the line of scrimmage.

Following Ohio State’s 70-0 shutout against Grambling State last week, Curry said he and his teammates have had fun playing in Matt Patricia’s scheme this season. Curry said he looked forward to seeing how the defense would evolve as the season continues.

“It’s hard for an offense to figure out. It definitely is fun for us to play in because we get to do so many different things,” Curry said. “Kind of showcases our talent at different levels. I think it’s just one of those things you get to do that you didn’t think would be fun at first, but now it’s definitely something that we want to do every week.”

As the season continues, we’ll track the stars (or points) each Ohio State player receives in 2025. Here’s how we’ll do it: Each time a Buckeye earns the first star of the game, that Buckeye adds three points to their season total. Then, the second star and third star each add two points and one point to their totals.