Steve Sarkisian Sends Strong Jeremiah Smith Warning to Texas Longhorns: "We Better…"

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is shaping up as one of the biggest names in the Heisman race. After putting up 151 yards and two touchdowns in the opener, he is giving the No. 1 Buckeyes another reason to feel confident heading into Texas. However, Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian sees Smith as one of the toughest players the Longhorns will have to face in their Week 2 matchup.

Sarkisian knows Texas will have to account for Smith on every snap. According to Sarkisian, Smith’s physical tools and speed make him tough to handle, especially when he gets a step on a defender and closes the gap quickly. He believes Smith’s size, long arms, and ability to read the field already resemble those of top NFL players in that position.

“They’ve [Ohio State] got other weapons, and so we’ve got to be diligent in having our ability to throw different pitches,” Sarkisian said during a press conference on September 7. “Then be sound in the back end to make sure that you know we’re aware of where number four is, and he garners that. Like, there’s not every game you go into where you say, ‘Hey, we need to know where this guy is every snap. We better know where number four is on every snap.”

Sarkisian’s plan on containing Smith has worked in the past, where the Longhorns held him to just seven catches for 46 yards across two meetings, including one catch for three yards in the 2024 CFP semifinal. But Smith’s Week 1 performance against Ball State gives all the more reason for Sarkisian to be cautious with his tried-and-tested approaches in the past.

Jeremiah Smith is putting up numbers that belong in the Heisman conversation. Stay locked in on how the best young talent shapes the season ahead. Subscribe for more interesting stories.

Making matters tougher is Ohio State’s new offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith. Smith brings a physical, run-heavy system that uses multiple tight ends. By crowding the line of scrimmage, his scheme forces defenses to play single coverage on the outside, giving Jeremiah Smith isolated one-on-one matchups downfield.

“He garners your attention, and he deserves our attention,” Sarkisian said during a press conference on September 7. “He’s arguably the best player in college football. The challenge is, with him, it’s the size, speed, catch radius. He’s a big, physical guy who can cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time.”

Smith opened the season with eight catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns against the Cardinals, all before halftime. He made one of the standout plays of the game with a one-handed touchdown catch against his helmet at the goal line, before Ohio State head coach Ryan Day pulled him after the break in the 56-3 blowout.

Now, as Sarkisian plans to mix defensive approaches to prevent the Buckeyes from exploiting single coverage, Texas is deploying a specific secondary lineup to counter Smith, featuring Bo Mascoe, Kade Phillips, Jelani McDonald, and Xavier Filsaime.

“When you just talk about body structure, this guy looks like Julio Jones. This guy looks like AJ Brown, like physically,” he said. “He can cover ground, and because he’s so strong, 50-50 catches are very difficult with him. So you have to have a plan.”

Sarkisian notes that “you can’t just throw all fastballs” at Smith, as the star wideout would eventually beat it. He praised Ohio State’s running game and other weapons on the offense, stating that the Longhorns shouldn’t rely on a single defensive look and should focus on mixing the coverages when playing against No. 1 Ohio State.

The stakes for this early-season battle go far beyond Week 2. The winner takes immediate control of the national title race and secures key playoff seeding leverage. For Texas, proving they can slow down Smith again is about establishing their defense as the standard for the entire college football season.

No. 5 Texas hosts No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday, September 12, at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, with the kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. CT. With both teams entering Week 2 after dominant Week 1 wins, Sarkisian’s specific game plan for Smith will get its first trial against the Buckeyes’ new scheme under offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.

Trending Articles

The post Steve Sarkisian Sends Strong Jeremiah Smith Warning to Texas Longhorns: "We Better…" appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos