Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis discuss Ohio State football,
Listen to Buckeye Talk, your favorite Ohio State football podcast, five days a week with Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis.Is Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith a better freshman than Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola: Buckeye Breakfast
And we’re not gonna have a subject. So you can make your market down, whatever you want to be. And then before the season, we all drove a bus and we’re gonna add a little side car to that bus. So it’s kind of like a Batman and Robin situation. We have our main bus and then our little side car bus. First thing off the bat, Andrew, two games in what’s been the biggest surprise. It can be good or bad. Biggest surprise about Ohio State through two games so far.
because he’s a freshman, he’s 18 years old. This is going to be the first presidential election that he votes in. He got his license like a year and a half ago and he might be the best receiver in college.Well, it’s a surprise to me. Like I didn’t think he was going to look this good. I mean, I was I would have loved to have said something that I got right. But I don’t know how I would be right about that if it was a surprise. So with Jeremiah, like I just.
We’re talking Chris Cart, like we’re talking about dudes that had like legendary freshman season that we’re not just talking about. He’s having a good season for the 2024 college football campaign. He’s having a good season for freshmen historically in college football, which has been around for a while. Just ask the folks at Rutgers. Like that is not something that I expected this quickly to happen.Hmm That’s interesting.
to come out of high school in a decade. So I’m expecting the greatest wide receiver prospect to come out in the decade to do things that only the greatest wide receiver prospect in a decade could be doing. And that’s what Jeremiah Smith is doing. Now, Ohio State has definitely gone out of their way to showcase it. That is for sure what has happened here. The fact that the second play of their season was tunnel screen to the true freshmen and it...clearly could have gone for a 75 yard touchdown.
Like that is like that freshman season where he had 19 ‚000 or 19 ,000. That’d be something. 1 ‚900 yards rushing and a bunch of touchdowns. And he would have won the dope Walker if voters weren’t wrong or would have won the Heisman if voters weren’t stubborn. that, that like, that’s the kind of thing we’re talking about. So it’s, it’s not even to me, Steven, a generational thing. Like this is a historic thing. This is a, he’s, he’s one of the best freshmen.
for 211 yards and three touchdowns. He’s played two college football games. That’s impressive, but it’s not shocking.I think it goes back to what I was saying though, like if you had told me that by December he was going to be the rest receiver in the country when the Belintkoff like that wouldn’t have shocked me.
were all like, guys, like they might make a really, really ugly special teams error that bites them in the butt and this could get really bad. Like they had a bad play against Rutgers. remember where it was just like, what in the world are they doing? There were, there was a couple of mistakes that they had like throughout the year where it was just like, man, when they play a big game, that’s going to hurt them. And like, for that to switch is notable.
And then it really got bad. The cotton bowl when Jayden Ballard is fair catching on the four yard line. So we can talk about Ohio State’s offensive line and the cotton bowl, all we want and how bad it was. And we can talk about how man, Kyle McCor is gone. Man, Devin Brown got knocked out of the game because of another injury. And so now you’re relying on Lincoln Keenholz who got here in June to be your court.
And I don’t know if I was expecting that. I was expecting maybe for things to go from incompetent to competent. They’ve gone from incompetent to like, they’re gonna put points on the board and we’re all ready for it. No one’s like, are they gonna do it? We’re all like, okay, what game is Brandon is gonna do it in? Cause we’re all just prepared for it to happen. I’m with you, Stefan. That’s the biggest surprise to me.
If you asked me which one I would take, I would just blindly put my hand in a hat and whichever name comes out, that’s who’s taking the field for me. And I think Carlos Loughlin might agree with that. But okay, I understand that, Stefan. no, what’d you get wrong?I don’t know if you’re wrong or right. just, don’t know if we’ve seen anything from either one of them that’s made me go, one of them is definitely better than the other one. I think they’ve both had quality explosive moments.
I didn’t think we’d be in this situation. Maybe I underestimated the defensive line and the rotations there and how you’re gonna mix him in and maybe I underestimated him. I don’t know, but I was wrong about that. I thought CJ Hicks was gonna be a fairly useful part of this defense and I just don’t know if he’s gonna be that.That’s where I was wrong. It’s just Yeah, so let’s just we can make this one a collective oneHe’s not the style of linebacker this game needs.
They were talking about, I can’t remember if Ryan Day or Chip Kelly had said it, but their offense is very opponent based in terms of what they might pull out of the hat that week. And so there’s going to be a game like this past week, they pulled out four tight ends, right? The week before that they pulled out 10 personnel. There’s going to be a game when they’re going to pull that 10 personnel. We’re going to see it a lot. And I’m wondering what game that is going to be.
Okay, this wasn’t a Seth issue. This was a cadence issue and that’s on the quarterback over the center more than anything else. But I just think he has been stout in the run game. I think for a guy who is playing in a new system and a new program and he is in between two guys who were making their first two starts of their career, one of which on his left side was playing in his first two games of his career. Center play has been great.
But he’s like the outstanding man. The grades I had mentioned earlier this week, Cody Simon and Gabe Powers are the only linebackers at Ohio State graded higher than him. And them combined have played fewer snaps than him. every time he comes into the game, we’re like, there’s a tackle, Arville Reese. there’s a play in the backfield, Arville Reese. need to make that tackle, but he’s right there. He’s somehow impacting the play. He’s looked at me. He is.
I had somebody tell me in the preseason once this guy figures out what he is as a player. He’s gonna be a monster. I Agree with that person. He is going to be a monster great market down man. Great market down Andrew what you’re marking downOkay, so it’ll be a decade almost by the time he’s draft eligible. Yeah, I he’s gonna be a first draft draft pick. That dude’s, man, he’s good. He’s good. He’s really, really good.
solid, I think the offensive line has been really bad. Like the numbers are there. So to the point where like you get to the end of the year, if some of these guys, you look at their numbers, you’re like, look at the numbers. And you’re kind of going to forget that like, you know, Ole Miss played Furman in the first couple of weeks. Like if Ole Miss loses to Georgia, you’re going to be like, who cares? They lost to Georgia. It doesn’t matter. Jackson Dart doesn’t matter.
And now he’s gone. There’s this opening. The offense was OK, but it wasn’t great. It’s all these receivers. Hey, this dude might be generational. The buildup is creating an opportunity for us to even have this conversation because if he was again, there are Cam Coleman at Auburn, Michael Hudson at Texas Tech, Nick Marsh at Michigan State, Brian Westco Jr. at Clemson, Ryan Wingo at Texas, T .J. Moore at Clemson, Ryan Williams at Alabama.
Someone’s gotta do the story and stop just throwing out numbers of how much this roster costs and really have a conversation of like, hey, what was it like talking to these collectives, 1870 and the foundation? Those are the two main ones for Ohio State. What was it like trying to fundraise before Michigan won a national title and immediately after the clock hit zeros? What’s it been like fundraising since then? Because I have a strange feeling.
feels very possible. It’s like, especially if you get to a point, you really think if I like, understand Ohio State might have like a big 10 championship game to prepare for the next week. But if that game’s like 24 or 27, nothing in the fourth quarter, you really think Ohio State’s calling off the dogs at that point going, you know what guys, we got to play USC, Penn State, Oregon next week, we’re going to take it easy.
and being the first player cornerback drafted in 2025 in that NFL draft. I don’t know if that’s, yeah, that’s what I said. I said, well, face him. I know a little John Tim and Travis Hunter exists. Yeah, I know who exists out there. I don’t know how that’s going so far. I don’t know. He’s looked fine. I don’t know if he looks like a first round draft pick right now, but traits, traits are there. Stefan.Ohio State’s team. Yeah, was on Ohio State’s team.
But damn if this isn’t one of the most important players on Ohio State’s team and it’s time people start recognizing how important offensive linemen are to a football team. I’m very, very, very angry about that. If people don’t talk about it, they should be talking about it more at college level, at high school level, pro level. Seth McLaughlin, I am going to carry the flag for him right now because I think Seth McLaughlin is going to be, I think we’re talking about like an all Big 10 player.
Emeka’s driving, Will Howard’s right there next to him. They go hand in hand. Jeremiah Smith, they will pull over and gladly, gladly toss him into the bus. Will Howard, no more than two interceptions this year.This offense is so 2019, but it’s like a step further than that because there feels like more trust in Will Howard than there was in Justin Fields in that year. And that’s not about talent. That’s about whether or not they’re gonna make a mistake and what they can do within the offense.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
2024 Big Ten power rankings: Ohio State, Penn State, USC on top after Week 1FOX Sports' Big Ten expert Michael Cohen reveals his power rankings for the conference after Week 1 of the 2024 season.
Read more »
Five Things to Know About Akron, Ohio State’s First Opponent of the 2024 SeasonAkron should be a cakewalk even by Group of Five standards and the Zips' nickname history involves rubber shoe covers.
Read more »
Akron Game Trailer: Archie Griffin Narrates the First Trailer of Ohio State’s 2024 Season“The journey to greatness is paved with more than just talent. It’s forged in the fires of relentless effort and unwavering commitment,' Archie Griffin said in the trailer.
Read more »
Ryan Day fires up Ohio State fans and band during first Skull Session of 2024 (video)Ryan Day fired up the fans and band during the first Skull Session of 2024 ahead of Saturday's game against Akron.
Read more »
From Michigan to Akron: Ranking importance of games on Ohio State football’s 2024 scheduleNot all games are created equally. Here are the tiers for matchups on Ohio State football's 2024 schedule.
Read more »
These Three Games Will Decide Ohio State Buckeyes' 2024 SeasonLooking ahead to the 2024 season, these three games will decide how the year goes for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Read more »