Oregon knows exactly what’s coming Saturday in Columbus, and the Ducks still don’t have an easy answer for it.
Jeremiah Smith has spent the past two seasons looking like the kind of receiver defenses can only hope to survive. He already burned Oregon twice as a freshman in 2024, and now, as a junior, he arrives with even more production and even more attention.
Through this season, Smith has 63 catches for 1,067 yards and 13 touchdowns, both second-most in the nation. He’s also the current frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy and the No. 1 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
That’s the assignment in front of Dan Lanning and Oregon’s defense this week: figure out a way to slow down a 6-foot-4 target who has been impossible to ignore.
When the Ducks hosted Ohio State in Eugene in 2024, Smith caught nine passes for 100 yards and a touchdown and nearly helped the Buckeyes steal the game. Then, in the Rose Bowl a few months later, he was even more explosive, finishing with seven receptions for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Lanning has seen enough to know what kind of problem Smith creates, but he’s not shying away from it.
“I mean Jeremiah is special. He’s a special player,” Lanning said on Monday.
“You have to know where he’s at at all times; he’s dynamic in every phase. I think it’s one that our players are excited about, that challenge.
There’s a real challenge involved in defending a guy like him. He’s certainly pro-ready.
I think anybody that’s played against him already would tell you that he probably was two years ago, right? So he certainly is now.”
Oregon’s recent track record against top receivers hasn’t exactly been clean. Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Young hit the Ducks with multiple big plays, including a 52-yard touchdown in Week 2.
USC freshman Kayden Dixon-Wyatt went for seven catches, 114 yards and a score. Last week, Northwestern’s Griffin Wilde kept finding space and finished with 146 yards and a touchdown.
Even so, the Ducks enter this matchup with some defensive momentum, while Ohio State is still sorting out its plan around freshman backup quarterback Luke Fahey. Fahey found Smith 10 times last week, though Smith was held to 83 yards and a late touchdown in a loss to USC.
Lanning said Oregon will have to get creative in the legal ways football allows.
“We’re gonna see if we can play with 12. I guess I realize that’s not funny against this team,” Lanning joked, referencing Oregon’s intentional 12-man penalty late in the 2024 win over the Buckeyes.
Brandon Finney Jr. has spent time both on the perimeter and at nickel for Oregon this season, and he figures to be the primary defender on Smith. But that alone won’t be enough. The Ducks will likely need help from a safety or another defender to keep Smith from breaking the game open.
“He’s a guy that you have to know where he’s at at all times,” Lanning said. “They’ve done a good job of moving him around and making it challenging. Arthur (Smith) and their offensive staff do a really good job of finding ways to get him the ball and be able to take advantage of it.”
Smith has caught a touchdown in all but one game this season, though he hasn’t gone over 100 receiving yards in his last three. For Oregon, the path to an upset starts with keeping him in check and forcing Ohio State’s other playmakers to carry the load.
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