Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith draws local criticism for sideline outburst in loss to Oregon

Jeremiah Smith's frustration has turned into its own storyline at Ohio State. After the Buckeyes lost 41-28 to Oregon on Saturday, Jeremy Birmingham, a longtime beat reporter who now covers the team for 97.1 The Fan, took aim at how the star receiver handled the second half. As The Comeback reported, Birmingham said on the station's postgame show that a captain and the best player in the country can't go stomping down the field "like a petulant child."

The Comeback reports that the moment came late in the third quarter. Ohio State trailed 31-14, and Smith had gone more than two full quarters without a catch. When he finally made one, he was shown yelling toward the Buckeyes' sideline. Smith finished with seven receptions for 133 yards and a touchdown, but most of that production came after Oregon had taken control. The broadcast crew mostly read the outburst as competitiveness, and plenty of fans have argued that a player that good had reason to be upset about being left out of the offense for so long.

The argument over how Ohio State uses Smith did not start Saturday. A week earlier, after the 30-18 loss at USC, Fox analyst Joel Klatt publicly questioned the Buckeyes' plan for him. Quarterback Luke Fahey has been starting since Julian Sayin suffered what On3 described as a likely season-ending injury. On3 reported that the offense has struggled to get Smith the ball consistently under Fahey, and the defense hasn't held up either.

Ohio State scored the game's first 14 points. Oregon then won the second quarter 17-0 and the third 14-0, and the Buckeyes never recovered. ESPN noted that this is the first time in 22 years Ohio State has lost back-to-back games by double digits. Ryan Day said he would review everything with his staff, starting with the coaches and then the players. He also said he would not single out any one position group after two straight weeks of results like these.

What it means for Northwestern

The Buckeyes fell to 6-3 and have dropped two in a row. Three weeks ago they won 19-15 at No. 5 Indiana. Since then they have given up 71 points over two games. All three losses have come against ranked or Power Four opponents: by one point at Texas, then at USC, then at home to the Ducks. Northwestern visits Columbus on Saturday, November 14, with the game on Fox. The Wildcats were ranked No. 20 when they lost 34-26 at Oregon in October.

The question for this week is whether Day's promised changes produce an offense that gets Smith involved early, before the game is decided.

The board for the game still has Ohio State as a clear favorite. Novig lists the Buckeyes at -355 to win outright and Northwestern at +317. DraftKings has the best Northwestern price at +320, a gap of only three cents from Novig. Across the five venues, the spread ranges from Ohio State -10.5 at FanDuel (-105) to Northwestern +11 at Fanatics (-110). The total is 47.5 everywhere. Sportsbook hold on the moneyline is between 4.2% and 4.6%. Those numbers suggest the market still sees Ohio State as the stronger team despite the past two weeks. Smith's role over the next four quarters may tell more about the Buckeyes than the final score does.