Jeremiah Smith has already established himself as one of the most dominant players in college football. Evidently, Kirk Herbstreit believes the Ohio State star is also one of the most physically gifted receivers the sport has seen in quite some time.
Speaking on ESPN’s SportsCenter prior to Saturday’s College GameDay, Herbstreit was asked to identify the last college receiver who compared to Smith. Rather than point to another Buckeye, Herbstreit reached for two NFL legends.
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“I’m trying to compare him to Julio Jones, Terrell Owens,” Herbstreit said, harkening back to two absolute legends. “He’s got just such a rare skill set because of his size and fluidity.”
Smith enters Saturday’s matchup against Iowa with an FBS-leading 617 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. The 6-foot-4, 224-pound wideout is coming off one of the best performances of his career, catching 12 passes for 217 yards and four touchdowns in Ohio State’s 42-19 win over Illinois.
That made Smith the first Big Ten receiver in nearly 12 years to record at least 200 receiving yards and four touchdowns in the same game. He also became just the second Ohio State player to reach those marks, joining Terry Glenn’s 1994 performance.
Herbstreit believes Smith’s combination of size, movement and technical ability makes him especially difficult to defend: “He can get in and out of breaks,” Herbstreit said. “Obviously, he can’t [leave early for the NFL]. He just went back to work.”
Moreover, Herbstreit also praised Smith’s approach away from the field: “One of the most humble superstars I’ve ever been around,” Herbstreit added. “And he obviously understands, as gifted as he is, he wants to keep trying to improve.”
Herbstreit compared that mentality to fellow star Miami playmaker Malachi Toney, who grew up with Smith in Florida: “It’s just never enough,” Herbstreit said. “Which is very rare in 2026 to see that from superstars.”
Now, Iowa gets the challenge of trying to slow Smith down. Herbstreit pointed out that Ohio State regularly moves Smith before the snap to make it difficult for defenses to get physical with him at the line of scrimmage. Once Smith gets a clean release, Herbstreit believes the problem quickly becomes even greater for opposing safeties.
“How many times have we seen him have free releases?” Herbstreit elaborated. “He’s 18 yards downfield at that point, full speed, and it just puts too much on the safety.”
Alas, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz has offered similar praise this week. Ferentz compared Smith’s impact to players such as Saquon Barkley and Randy Moss, noting that some elite players can make plays even when a defense executes properly.
“You talk about Smith, there are several guys over the last 20-plus years and the first guy that comes to mind would be Saquon Barkley,” Ferentz said. “They’re at a different level.”
Nick Saban has also compared Smith to Jones, his former Alabama star: “He’s one of the most dominant players in college football,” Saban said on The Rich Eisen Show. “I thought Julio Jones was kind of one of a kind back in the day when we had him. But this guy reminds me of him in a lot of ways.”
All told, No. 5 Ohio State will face No. 14 Iowa on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET at Kinnick Stadium, with the game airing on CBS. Herbstreit expects Iowa to have a plan designed around limiting Smith, potentially using help underneath and over the top.
If the Hawkeyes commit multiple defenders to him however, that will put even more responsibility on Ohio State’s running game and receivers such as Brandon Inniss. Either way, Smith will be the player Iowa’s defense has to account for on every snap.
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