Jeremiah Smith was nearly unable to play in Ohio State’s final game of the regular season against Michigan.
He strained his rectus femoris – one of the four muscles that make up the quadriceps – in practice during the week leading up to Ohio State’s game against UCLA two weeks earlier. While he played through the injury for three drives against the Bruins, he had to check out of the game early, then missed the following week’s game against Rutgers.
Told that the injury typically comes with a three- to four-week recovery timeline, Smith wasn’t sure at the start of rivalry week if he’d be able to take the field in Ann Arbor. But he did everything he could to get healthy because he couldn’t bear to miss that game, and he ultimately returned to catch three passes for 40 yards and a touchdown in the Buckeyes’ 27-9 win over the Wolverines.
“After that Rutgers week, I was feeling down. I was like, I don't know if I'm going to play against the team up north; I was debating if I was going to play or not because it was really bad, and I didn't know if I was going to be able to play,” Smith said. “But I had to do everything for the team, and I wanted to be out there. And I did everything I could, and we got the win.”
Ryan Day couldn’t have been more impressed by how hard his star receiver worked to get back on the field that week.
“I think if people really knew leading up to that game what he went through to get himself healthy to play in that game, and then play the way he did without really practicing much that week, you'd be amazed,” Day said. “I looked him right in the eye and I said, ‘Listen, no matter what happens, JJ, we're going to go win that game with or without you. Now we need you and we want you in the game,’ and it's kind of like a weight got taken off of his shoulders. And he just willed himself, though, to be healthy into that game and to play in that game. And it was tremendous. He just did an amazing job. And it just goes to show you, when you set your mind to something, you can get it done. And he did it.”
While Smith played and made an impact to help Ohio State earn its first win over Michigan since 2019, he says he wasn’t playing at full strength. But Smith said Monday that he is fully healthy now entering the College Football Playoff.
“Going into that game, no, I was not 100%, I'm going to be completely honest with you. Still was kind of banged up a little bit. But right now, I'm back healthy, fully healthy, so should be good to go,” Smith said.
Just as the desire to beat Michigan gave Smith extra motivation to return from his injury as quickly as possible, Smith has extra motivation from several sources entering next week’s CFP quarterfinal at the Cotton Bowl.
For one, the Miami Gardens native will be facing his hometown team. His excitement to play Miami was evident from the moment the Hurricanes beat Texas A&M in their first-round game on Saturday, as Smith posted a tweet with a smiling devil emoji just minutes after Miami’s 10-3 win.
— Jeremiah Smith (@Jermiah_Smith1) December 20, 2025
“I'm very excited to play the guys from back home,” Smith said. “It's like a second home for me. I'm from there. I had a good relationship with all the coaches (from recruiting), a lot of the players on the team. A lot of people I played with in high school.”
If another tweet he sent moments after USC wide receiver Makai Lemon won the Biletnikoff Award is any indication, Smith will also be playing with a chip on his shoulder after being snubbed from that award, though he said Monday he had turned his focus away from that and toward beating Miami.
— Jeremiah Smith (@Jermiah_Smith1) December 13, 2025
“Just use it as motivation,” Smith said about not winning the Biletnikoff. “Can't think too much of it. If that's who they chose to win, that's what they chose to win. Makai Lemon is a great receiver, he had a great season, so can't knock him for that. I mean, he's a great receiver. Gonna be a first-round draft pick. So I can't really complain about it. I gotta just worry about what's in front of me and that's beating Miami.”
Most importantly, Smith wants to win another national championship and wash the bad taste out of his mouth from Ohio State’s Big Ten Championship Game loss to Indiana.
Going into Ohio State’s first College Football Playoff game against Tennessee last year, Smith told Ohio State wide receivers coach Brian Hartline that he wanted to be pushed harder in practice. He said he’s had similar conversations with Hartline and co-offensive coordinator Keenan Bailey – who’s been spending more time with the receivers since USF hired Hartline as its new head coach – leading up to this year’s CFP.
“It's time to crank it up a little bit, because now it's time to win another natty around here,” Smith said.
Smith has already been spectacular this season, catching 80 passes for 1,086 yards and 11 touchdowns to earn unanimous All-American honors even with the injury he battled at the end of the regular season. Now that the CFP is beginning and Smith is playing against his hometown team, Day expects more big things from the sophomore wideout.
“He'll be wired this week, that's for sure, man. He's going to be fired up,” Day said of Smith. “When you have an opportunity to coach somebody like Jeremiah, it's special, because we knew in high school what he was, and everything that we talked about in recruiting, you're seeing happen. And I think that's the most important thing is when you say you're going to do something for somebody and they're going to come in and they say they're going to do it at your school, when that all comes together as one, it's testimony. And he's done it, and he and his family are special, and they mean a lot to this program, and I know this game will be important to him.”
