The star wide receiver went more than two quarters without a catch as Oregon scored 38 straight points in a 41-28 win over the Buckeyes.
Jeremiah Smith is supposed to be the best player in college football. On Saturday he looked like a guy who wanted to be anywhere else.
Ohio State needed a win over Oregon to keep its College Football Playoff hopes from flatlining entirely, especially after an injury to quarterback Julian Sayin knocked the season off course last month. Instead the Buckeyes got run off their own field, falling 41-28 after Oregon erased an early 14-0 deficit with 38 unanswered points.
Smith's part in that collapse was mostly silence. He went more than two full quarters without a single catch, and his visible frustration on the sideline did not go unnoticed. A longtime Buckeyes reporter called him out publicly, labeling his reaction that of a petulant child.
The pile-on did not stop there. Former national champion Damien Harris weighed in too, suggesting Smith has more to lose than gain by playing out the rest of Ohio State's season, with the Buckeyes' playoff chances now hanging by a thread.
Whether Smith responds with his play or his temper will shape how the rest of his season, and his legacy at Ohio State, gets remembered.