Ohio State freshman Jeremiah Smith is special.
The 6-foot-3 and 215-pound wide receiver was the No. 1 player in the 2024 class and came to Ohio State ready to work. He became the first freshman ever to be named an Iron Buckeye, which goes to the 10 top performers of offseason workouts.
Smith took that momentum straight to the field in preseason camp and Thursday was no different. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said anytime Smith is 1-on-1 with a defensive back he takes notice. There was a play against Davison Igbinosun on Thursday in the corner of the end zone that nearly resulted in a one-handed catch. Instead, Igbinosun got the pass breakup and didn’t hesitate to talk trash.
A few minutes later, Smith came back on the opposite end of the field and won a jump ball along the sideline.
Battles like that have told the story of preseason camp for Ohio State.
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Ranked second in the preseason Coaches Poll, Ohio State has as much talent as any team in the country, and on the seventh day of camp, the intensity level peaked.
Head coach Ryan Day liked it.
“It’s different between getting tired and throwing a punch, getting thrown out of a game or breaking your hand, that’s just undisciplined,” Day said. “It’s another thing when you’re going so hard that you’re jawing and pushing and being edgy and playing to the edge of the whistle. That’s what we want right there.”
Here are five other lessons from Thursday’s camp session.
Same @emeka_egbuka, different day 🤯 pic.twitter.com/nHVFoHB2JJ
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) August 8, 2024
Offensive line dealing with illness
Ohio State’s offensive line is one of the biggest questions entering the season and the Buckeyes got hit early with some adversity.
Carson Hinzman missed the first day of camp sick and now an illness is hitting a lot of people up front. Day didn’t specify how many people were sick, but Hinzman and Josh Simmons did not practice on Thursday.
“We hope to flush that out by the end of the week because it’s created a little bit of guys in and out,” Day said.
The quarterback competition isn’t over, but it might be soon
Day won’t name a starting quarterback yet. He’s going to keep Devin Brown and Will Howard battling for at least one more week until he speaks to the media again on Aug. 15.
But, it seems like Howard is pulling away.
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Howard threw a pick-six to Denzel Burke on Thursday, but it was the first interception I saw from him in camp. Outside of that mistake, he’s been sharp, confident in the pocket, making throws on time and letting it rip.
He threw one pass in the red zone that looked like the fastest ball we’ve seen come out of his hand so far. Because the throw was on the far end of the field, I couldn’t see who caught it, but it flew out of his hand with a tight spiral. It was impressive.
Day said he’s seen everything he’s wanted to see from Howard.
“Will really has taken some strides in the last couple practices, taking control of the offense, making plays on third down, again he hasn’t won the job, but we have seen some positive play,” Day said.
Still, it’s not quite time for the head coach to call the battle.
Ohio State has a scrimmage on Saturday and if Howard plays well in that, further building his lead on Brown, it’s possible Day could name the starter next week.
Regardless, it’s looking more and more like Howard will be the guy unless Brown makes a big push in the next three weeks.
Secondary continues to shine
Ohio State practiced for three hours and got plenty of passing reps for its quarterbacks on Thursday. This also means we saw a competitive day between the receivers and defensive backs.
And once again, the secondary shined.
The 1-on-1 wide receiver vs. defensive backs drill was especially impressive as there weren’t many receivers getting open against the coverage. Brandon Inniss did a few times, but neither pass was complete — one Air Noland pass was high across the middle to the open Inniss.
The depth in the secondary is by far Ohio State’s most impressive feature. You expect Burke to win his reps, but even Igbinosun, who won a jump ball vs. Jeremiah Smith, lost one later in the practice.
But it’s also been the backups winning. Aaron Scott doesn’t look like a freshman, he reminds me of how Jermaine Mathews Jr. was last year, just a highly-competitive guy who fights through contact. Mathews breaks up everything he can find and even Calvin Simpson-Hunt looks good.
The success, alone, is not a surprise, everybody expects Ohio State’s secondary to be one of the best in the country, but the fact that even the second team is winning is impressive.
The impact carries onto the entire offense.
Day said the dominance of the corners doesn’t impact his evaluations because plays are still being made.
“Our guys have been aggressive and challenged a lot of throws, but that’s the standard,” Day said.
Still, the level the secondary is playing at likely won’t be mimicked by any team in the country. Some teams might have more talent at one spot, but nobody has it across the board.
That will have a positive impact on the quarterbacks and receivers because it won’t get more difficult than Inniss making an acrobatic catch in double coverage like he did today.
“If you can get open and catch the ball on a fade against (Igbinosun) or Denzel, catch the ball over the middle or work a vision and break against Lathan Ransom, Caleb Downs or Jordan Hancock, then you are going to be pretty good against most of the guys in the country,” Day said. “It builds confidence when you do it.”
Quarterback mobility starting to show in team periods
Day has been adamant that the quarterbacks will run the ball more this season, but we haven’t seen them in pads so the mobility wasn’t shown.
On Thursday, you could see it from every quarterback, especially when the Buckeyes went to the red zone periods.
Howard scored on a read option. Lincoln Kienholz had a nice run on a read option, as well.
This offense is going to look a lot different than last year with Kyle McCord. Last year, Ohio State scored touchdowns on 64 percent of its red zone trips, down from 74 percent in 2022.
The mobility of the quarterbacks is going to be a difference-maker, especially in short-yardage situations.
Ohio State loves Jelani Thurman in the red zone
Ohio State’s top two tight ends are Gee Scott and Will Kacmarek. Day expects both to play this year.
Though he’s not at the top of the depth chart, it’s hard to go to practice and not be impressed by Jelani Thurman.
He arrived on campus last year and you could see the potential with his 6-foot-6, 258-pound frame alone. Ohio State has been using him a lot during preseason camp, and on Thursday, he caught at least two red zone touchdowns.
There seems to be an obvious role on the team for Thurman if he’s ready to seize it.
“I love the way he competes, I love his approach, I love his attitude, but in order to play tight end you have to do a lot of job description so you really have to be on it every play. All it takes is one bad play and it ruins a drive,” Day said. “He needs to continue to work in the meeting rooms to make sure when he gets on that field he knows what he’s doing because we see a huge ceiling in him. … We need him to come on and show more consistency. If he can, he’ll play for us this season.”
If Ohio State can get Thurman to turn the corner with those things, it could have a talented trifecta at tight end with him, Kacmarek and Scott. The group could allow Ohio State to be even more multiple than it already plans to be.
(Photo of Jeremiah Smith: Adam Cairns / Columbus Dispatch / USA Today)