Ferentz Likens Buckeyes' Jeremiah Smith To Barkley, Randy Moss
Ferentz Likens Buckeyes' Jeremiah Smith To Barkley, Randy Moss
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz compared Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith to Saquon Barkley and Randy Moss ahead of the No. 5 Buckeyes' Week 5 trip to Iowa City, a game kicking off Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET. Ferentz, who has led the Hawkeyes since 1997, made the remarks at his weekly press conference when asked for a comparison that captures Smith's impact on a game.
Ferentz pointed first to Barkley's performance against Iowa in 2017, recalling that the Penn State running back appeared to be knocked out of the game but returned within a couple of plays to keep producing. Barkley, now with the Philadelphia Eagles, was the 2018 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and the 2024 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, a season in which he rushed for 2,000 yards and helped Philadelphia win Super Bowl LIX. Ferentz also likened Smith to Randy Moss, recalling a red-zone play he watched Moss make during a visit to the New England Patriots' training camp in the late 2000s despite being well covered - the same quality he said he's seen from Smith against tight coverage. Moss, a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2018, ranks second in NFL history in receiving touchdowns and fourth in receiving yards. floorball bets
Smith, a 6-foot-4 junior, is coming off a career-best outing in Ohio State's 42-19 win over Illinois on Sept. 26, when he caught 12 passes for 217 yards and four touchdowns. He has already become Ohio State's all-time leading receiver in yards and sits two touchdowns shy of Chris Olave's program record and five catches shy of Emeka Egbuka's reception mark. On the season, Smith leads the nation with 617 receiving yards on 33 catches and seven touchdowns, after leading the Big Ten in receiving yards in both 2024 and 2025. In last year's meeting between the two teams, a 35-7 Ohio State win, Smith was limited to four catches for 89 yards and a score.
Iowa enters 4-0 after a last-second, 16-yard touchdown from quarterback Hank Brown to Reece Vander Zee beat then-No. 18 Michigan. The Hawkeyes' defense ranks among the Big Ten's best statistically, leading the conference in points allowed and ranking near the top in rushing, passing and total yards allowed. Ohio State is 3-1, with its only loss a blown 20-point lead against now-No. 1 Texas in Week 2. Ohio State holds a 17-3 edge in the all-time series, though Iowa won the last meeting in Iowa City, 55-24, in 2017.
