Coming into the season, Jeremiah Smith was seen as the best weapon in college football. Nothing that he did in Ohio State's season opener disputed that. He put on a clinic in the first half, catching eight passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes' dominant win.
Smith is the best receiver the Ohio State Buckeyes have. As they prepare for Texas, they are going to try to get him the ball as much as possible. Of course, Steve Sarkisian knows that, and he partially revealed what the Longhorns are going to try to do to stop him.
Texas' plan to slow down Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith revealed
While speaking during his weekly press conference, Sark told reporters how they are going to try to slow down Smith and Ohio State's passing attack.
"But I think like anything when you have a plan against somebody like him, you can’t just throw all fastballs. As good as a fastball as you have, if that’s all you got, sooner or later you’re gonna hit it. We’re got to be able to mix our pitches up in how we defend him and how we defend the scheme because Arthur and Ryan believe in running the ball. They’ve got a good runner and a good O-line, they’ve got other weapons."
Sark continued to say that the Longhorns will have to mix up their schedules in order to keep Smith in check.
“We’ve got to be diligent in our ability to throw different pitches and then be sound in the backend to make sure that we’re aware of No. 4 is. He garners that. Not every game do you go into it where you say, ‘Hey, we need to know where this guy is on every snap.’ We better know where No. 4 is on every snap.”
The Buckeyes will use multiple weapons to take down Texas
In each of the last two seasons, Ohio State has been able to dispatch the Longhorns, despite Smith being relatively quiet. With how well Smith played against Ball State, it's going to be extremely hard for Texas to keep him out of the game. He's just too good, and Arthur Smith is moving him around more.
Smith has really stressed yards after the catch in the offseason. We saw a little bit of that in Week 1 against the Cardinals, but there is still room for improvement. Smith is going to be moved all over the field. Expect Smith to scheme up ways to get him open, unlike what has happened the last two years.
Running the ball better is going to be a key point of emphasis for Ryan Day in practice this week. Their ability to run the ball in the first half against Ball State was underwhelming. Running it better against Texas is going to be necessary in order to win this game in a hostile environment.
Sark already has built-in excuses for losing to the Buckeyes. Ohio State already has a mental edge over that program.
Add us as a preferred source on Google