OSU's Ryan Day: Lack of Jeremiah Smith Touches vs. Texas Was 'More About Execution'

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day addressed the limited involvement of star freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith in the Buckeyes' 28-14 College Football Playoff semifinal victory over Texas, attributing it to "more about execution" rather than strategy.

"It's a little bit more about execution than it is anything else," Day told reporters via Zoom, per ESPN's Andrea Adelson. "We weren't able to sustain a few of those drives and connect on a couple other plays. [Smith is] obviously a huge part of our offense, so there's different ways that teams will adjust based on what he's done and what he's capable of. We'll identify what those are in this game and then go from there."

Smith, who had been a dominant force in Ohio State's first two playoff games, was limited to just one catch for three yards against Texas. This performance was a stark contrast to his earlier outings, in which he tallied 103 yards, six receptions and two touchdowns against Tennessee and followed it with 187 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions against Oregon.

Smith's lack of involvement wasn't an isolated issue for the Buckeyes offense. "Self-inflicted wounds" and penalties were primary factors behind the unit's struggles to execute at a high level.

"There's nobody that came back on offense and was pleased with the fact that we had those penalties," Day said, per Adelson. "The issues are there. We certainly have the right and opportunity to persevere through those penalties, but certainly sets us way behind the sticks, and we cannot have that in this game. Efficiency is going to be something that we've got to do a much better job of if we're going to win it."

Ohio State committed nine penalties compared to Texas' five, an issue the Buckeyes will need to address before the National Championship game against Notre Dame.

"But to me, the story of this past game was the self-inflicted wounds that set us back and allowed us to be in the game in the fourth quarter, when we could have done a better job executing and made it a little bit of a bigger spread down the stretch. That's going to be the focus this week. We've got to play our best game against Notre Dame."