Ohio State fans nearly had every reason imaginable to despise Cam Ward

Jeremiah Smith is a Buckeye, and the entire Ohio State fanbase is so grateful for that, but there was once a time when he had the entire fanbase praying he would pick the Buckeyes. Back on the evening before the 2024 National Signing Day, Smith was the last player to get in, meaning it was late into the night when he submitted who he would be playing for in the fall.

Smith is a Florida native, and the Miami Hurricanes were a team on the table for Smith's recruitment. It turns out that on that very night, the young receiver talked to former Miami quarterback Cam Ward about everything. Ward, of course, wanted Smith to attend Miami, but as everyone knows, Smith chose the Buckeyes, but it apparently was a closer call than many people thought.

"What went into me taking a long period to send my NLI in was paperwork, the business side of things,” Smith said in an interview with On3. “That night, I definitely talked to Cam Ward. Thought about something, but …"

But Smith chose Ohio State, and the rest is history. He won a National Championship as a true freshman and is poised and ready to come back and do it all over again in Year 2. Smith also admitted that he hasn't spoken to Ward since that night, so he can't say whether or not he was mad, but he does think he could have had an opportunity to win a championship with the Hurricanes as well.

Smith is truly coming back as one of the best wide receivers in football, if not the best this season, rivaling probably only other sophomore receiver Ryan Williams from Alabama. Smith is coming off a season where he had 1,315 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns, averaging 17.3 yards per catch, which was one of the best performances in college football last season.