Buckeyes' Ryan Day Reveals the Jeremiah Smith Rules, Shows How to Coach a Young QB

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day had his best answer of the year in his post-Iowa, pre-Maryland press conference on Tuesday this week. 

He was asked what the rules are for throwing to Jeremiah Smith, and while he answered in a joking fashion, I thought what he said was really insightful. 

He said that when Jeremiah Smith is single-covered, he is wide open, which is absolutely true. There is no one in college football (or even many people in the NFL) who can cover Smith one-on-one. 

He continued by saying that when he is double covered, he is partly open, and then when he is triple covered, he is actually covered. 

Smith proved that he may not actually be covered when he is triple-teamed, but the point is that there is someone else who is wide open when there are three guys covering Smith. 

This line of questioning stems from the play-action pass that he threw to Smith, who had three guys on him. Smith turned that into a 59-yard gain, which was just unbelievable, but on the left side of the field, Devin McCuin was running free by about 20 yards, no exaggeration.

This, in my opinion, is such a fun answer to dissect because it is a look behind the curtain at how these guys coach their young players. While Jeremiah Smith is such a fun weapon to have and to watch, he truly does make it very hard for the quarterback. 

It is very realistic to say that Julian Sayin should throw the football to Smith every single time that he drops back to pass, but that isn't the best thing for the team. It is a really hard thing for a quarterback to balance, and we are seeing Sayin learn it in real time. 

Now, it is important that Sayin does the job, and going forward, he commits to changing his approach to throwing to Jeremiah. He can't quite lock onto him and forget about the rest of the field. We have seen it cost the Buckeyes a couple of times in the red zone when he has missed wide-open guys because he has been locked onto Smith.

It is a really fun thing to watch, and it will be another data point to watch for Sayin's development as the year continues. Against the lower half of the Big Ten, you can get away with this. Against some of the better teams in the conference and the country, this could be something that takes the Buckeyes over the top.