Steve Sarkisian details Jeremiah Smith game plan as Texas seeks repeat performance against Ohio State star

Hardly anyone could contain Jeremiah Smith during his outstanding freshman season at Ohio State. Texas figured something out, though, in its College Football Playoff clash against one of the nation’s best wide receivers and limited him to a season-low one catch for just three yards. Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian may need to get a similar performance from his defense in Week 1 when his team opens the 2025 season in a rematch with Smith and the Buckeyes in Columbus.

It helped that Texas boasted some of the best individual talents of any defensive backfield in the country last season. But Sarkisian and his staff also clearly designed the right game plan to defend Smith. He offered insight ahead of the Aug. 30 showdown into what it takes to guard the superstar.

“I do think, at the end of the day, that’s where your attention needs to be,” Sarkisian said on The Herd with Colin Cowherd. “But, hey, they’ve got really good coaches. He’s going to be moving around. He’s not going to be lining up in one position all the time. Ideally you’ve got multiple people with eyes on him and guarding him, but you still have to play great team defense, and you’ve gotta have the ability to stop the run, and you’ve gotta cover the two other wideouts they have or two other really good players, too.”

Texas, currently three-point underdogs to the Buckeyes at DraftKings, took Smith out of the equation in the CFP semifinal, but the rest of the Ohio State receiving unit capitalized on the Longhorns’ focus on WR1. Carnell Tate caught seven passes, Emeka Egbuka totaled five grabs and tight end Gee Scott Jr. had one of his most productive games of the season, too.

Regardless of how many playmakers Ohio State features this time around, Sarkisian said Smith will remain the defense’s priority.

“I do think a multitude of things that you can do well,” Sarkisian said, “but you better know where No. 4 is at all times.”

Smith shredded nearly every other defense he faced en route to one of the greatest seasons by a freshman wide receiver in college football history. He racked up Big Ten bests in receiving yards (1,315) and touchdowns (15) to quickly assert himself as a household name. The former No. 1 overall recruit garnered comparisons to numerous legends throughout his quick rise, most commonly to former Alabama star Julio Jones.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti made that same comparison this week at Big Ten Media Days, and Sarkisian doubled down on it.

“I had a chance to coach Julio Jones for two years in Atlanta,” Sarkisian said. “Reminds me a lot of him. So big and physical but yet fast, and they cover ground. So strong at the point of attack. When the ball is in the air, you see the ability to make contested catches.”