Ryan Day Reveals Jeremiah Smith's Emotions after Oregon Ducks Loss in Regular Season

The Oregon Ducks had a memorable 2024 college football season. In their first year in the Big Ten, the Ducks won the conference championship en route to a College Football Playoff appearance with a 13-0 overall record.

The Oregon Ducks season came to an end in the Rose Bowl in a 41-21 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Ohio State, led by coach Ryan Day and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith got redemption for the epic game at Autzen Stadium earlier in the season that the Ducks won by a final score of 32-31.

Jeremiah Smith "Angry" After Loss to Oregon in Regular Season

Oregon Ducks Jeremiah Smith Ryan Day Ohio State Buckeyes College Football Playoff Big Ten Media Day Dan Lanning Rose Bowl — Oct 12, 2024; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) runs the ball after a catch during the fourth quarter against the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

Ryan Day spoke on Big Ten media day on Tuesday. He talked about in detail Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and how devastated he was after the loss at Oregon in October.

“We lost the first game against Oregon. I mean, he was angry, you know he wasn’t the only one. And certainly for him, he expects to win every single game. He expects to win every drill that he’s in,” Day said. “That’s just the way he’s wired, you’re going to get a genuine authentic response from Jeremiah, and I think the guys feed off of that.”

In Ohio State’s loss at Oregon, Smith had 9 receptions for 100 yards and one touchdown. In the Buckeyes convincing win over the Ducks in the Rose Bowl, Smith was even better. He had seven receptions for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Despite being just a freshman, Smith was clearly Ohio State’s best weapon on offense.

After this Rose Bowl win the College Football Playoff semifinals, Smith and the Buckeyes won their next two games against the Texas Longhorns and Notre Dame Fighting Irish to be crowned national champions.

For the season, Smith had 76 receptions for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdown receptions. He is only expected to improve as he enters his sophomore year.

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Oregon Not Scheduled to Play Ohio State in 2024

If Dan Lanning and company get another matchup against Smith and Ohio State, it will have to wait until a potential Big Ten championship game or a College Football Playoff rematch. The two do not have each other on their 12-game regular season schedule.

If they are the top two finishers in the Big Ten, they will face-off in Indianapolis for the Big Ten title. It looked like this would be the case last season as Oregon made the conference title game with a 12-0 record and all Ohio State had to do was beat a 6-5 Michigan team at home.

The Wolverines went into Columbus and stunned the country by beating the 10-1 Buckeyes, getting the Penn State Nittany Lions into the title game instead. Oregon then beat Penn State.

In the end, Oregon, Penn State, and Ohio State all ended up making the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. Will their be another all Big-Ten playoff game next season?