Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith warns Ducks against playing man - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Jeremiah Smith served notice Monday to Oregon's defense if it chooses to play single coverage on him or any of the Ohio State receivers.

«I'm just laughing in my head. Why are y'all really playing man-on-man against us, or against me, I should say?» Smith said. «And when we see man [coverage] against any of our receivers, we're going to take a shot down the field. „So I'm just letting everybody know right now that if you play man Wednesday, we're taking a shot.

“So I'm just letting everybody know right now that if you play man Wednesday, we're taking a shot.»

Smith, Ohio State's dynamic freshman receiver, torched Tennessee with six catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes' 42-17 rout of the Vols in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Dec. 21. He was a one-man wrecking crew against Tennessee's man coverage.

Smith will be a focal point for Oregon in the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential when the two teams meet Wednesday in a rematch of their Oct. 12 game, won 32-31 by the Ducks in Eugene.

«They're going to see a completely different player than the last time,» said Smith, who caught nine passes for 100 yards and a touchdown in the first game against Oregon. «Even [receivers] Coach [Brian] Hartline told me the other day that I'm a whole different player from the first time we played Oregon until now. It started with understanding the game plan and knowing what the defense is trying to do.»

Smith said the entire Ohio State team was «pissed off» about the 13-10 home loss to Michigan to end the regular season and played that way against Tennessee. He said the same goes for the Buckeyes' first loss, earlier in the season to Oregon.

«We were ready to get that bad taste out of our