Well, not really a ‘Happy New Year’ for Dan Lanning’s program. First things first, the Oregon Ducks got a grounding effect. Thanks to Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes, Lanning’s boys now know what defeat tastes like. After losing the Rose Bowl Game, 21-41 to Ohio State, Lanning thought of turning into a better person at least. Forget uttering a single bad word about his rival. Instead, the Oregon HC had to bow down to the star of the evening, Day’s wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. Why wouldn’t he? After all, Smith now has fallen under the NFL radar.  

It was time for some reality check for Lanning’s Ducks. Surprisingly, it was Smith who, all throughout the Rose Bowl, had put up a ‘don’t mess with me’ attitude. Ray’s weapon reminded the entire nation on Wednesday, January 1, why he is one of the top wide receivers in college football. The Buckeyes star freshman wide receiver put together a monster day. The 8th-seeded Ohio State now owes their everything to Smith for knocking off the No.1 Oregon. While Lanning was expected to be bitter with him, the Oregon HC rather switched to his positive side. Instead of spreading ill about him, Lanning showered Smith with praise. As Ohio State insider, Brandon Little quoted the Ducks HC, “He’s strong. He attacks the ball in the air as well as any receiver I’ve seen. I mean, the guy is NFL ready, he’s that talented.”

He continued, “He’s very special and Will Howard did a great job of getting the ball to him tonight. He’s tough to defend, he’s physical, really talented player.” Maybe Lanning’s words are the ultimate answer to the Ohio State’s tweet where they posted a picture of Smith with the caption, “ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED…!?” And that’s a yes. Why wouldn’t it be?

The 19-year-old was named the Rose Bowl Offensive Most Valuable Player for his heroics after the game. Smith came up with seven catches for 187 yards along with a pair of touchdowns. Overall, the wide receiver had an outstanding freshman season. His stats speak on his behalf as he racked up 1,224 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns on 70 receptions. For Lanning, it was the second time he saw Smith at his best. The last time the Ducks HC witnessed the WR fever was in October when he put up 100 receiving yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, the Ducks continued to struggle with their offensive line, finishing with minus 23 yards. Maybe that’s what highlighted Smith’s talent even more. 

Jeremiah Smith gets the NFL spotlight

January 1 has been all about Jeremiah Smith. After all, in the third quarter of the Rose Bowl, Day’s phenom after his back-to-back 10- and 16-yard catches broke the Buckeyes’ freshman single-game receiving record held by Cris Carter. That makes to break a record held by Carter since the 1985 Rose Bowl against the USC Trojans at 172 yards. Well, that’s not the only record that Smith was successful in breaking.

Along with this, the wide receiver set the Big Ten record for most receiving touchdowns by a true freshman. It came with his 45-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. Now that’s enough for the NFL spotlight to be on Smith. As one of the NFL executives called the young chap the “most advanced receiver” ever for his age.

As per FOX Sports NFL insider Jordan Schultz, “To be so young and so technically sound, then you add the physical tools and things get pretty freaky. Like some built in a lab stuff.” Well, now that’s something that was expected. This has made the Ohio State fans happy, particularly after how the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator Chip Kelly struggled to find out how to use Jeremiah Smith. Now there remain no more doubts about the wide receiver, except one- “Wait, this is a teenager?”