"I'm definitely hungry for this one": Jeremiah Smith drops eye-catching reaction for Texas vs Ohio State season opener

After only a single season at Ohio State, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has become one of the Buckeyes’ most important players. The Miami Gardens native played a vital role in helping Ohio State win the national championship in 2024. In his freshman year, Smith recorded 76 catches for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns, earning him All-American honors and the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award.

He had an incredible season throughout, but in the College Football Playoff semifinal against Texas, the Longhorns held Smith to just one catch for three yards, his lowest output of the season. The program’s defense focused heavily on stopping him, using double and triple-team coverage to subdue him. While they stopped the wide receiver, the Buckeyes won the contest 28-14 nevertheless.

The 2025 season opener on Aug. 30 will be a rematch of Ohio State against Texas, and after the Buckeyes’ first preseason practice on Thursday, Smith shared his thoughts on the same with the media.

"I'm definitely hyped about this one, especially with how things went last year — things people saying about me, about that game I had last year," he said, according to college football reporter Chase Brown on X. "I'm definitely hungry for this one."

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Jeremiah Smith said outcome will be different in Texas rematch

Jeremiah Smith is expecting a much better game for himself this time around against Texas. At the Big Ten media days in July, Smith said he’s looking forward to the season opener and added:

"(We) had a great game last year against them. But like you said, they did a couple of things taking me out of the game. But me, Coach (Brian) Hartline and Coach (Ryan) Day, we just had a conversation about it. Certain things we'll go through this year for them not to do that. So it's definitely going to be a different outcome this year."

Since he was held at his worst output of his freshman campaign, Smith also expressed his frustration.

"It was pretty frustrating for me," Smith said. "But you've just got to be a team player at the end of the day just let the other guys eat. So nothing too big. I mean, I was frustrated at the end of the game, but we went to the National Championship, so I was happy with it."

With the season opener only mere weeks away, Jeremiah Smith is ready to take on the Longhorns once again when they come to Columbus.

Edited by Nadim El Kak