Curt Cignetti Jokes About Defending Jeremiah Smith in Video Ahead of Ohio State vs. Indiana

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti knows his team will have its hands full with Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.

He quipped on The Triple Option, an AMP Sports Original Series, the Hoosiers defense is "not allowed to play with 12 or 13" (34:40 mark).

"He's a great player. He's playing at another level," Cignetti said. "They're moving him around, and they're doing a great job with him. He's a wow guy. That's the only word I can think of when somebody asks me about him, is wow. So we got to do the best we can."

Smith has played Indiana twice, and the two meetings presented a strong contrast. As a freshman, he caught three passes for 34 yards in a 38-15 win over the Hoosiers. Last year, he had a much better individual performance (eight receptions for 144 yards), albeit in a losing effort.

The dynamic wideout has expanded his game as a junior. He ranks second nationally in catches (48), yards (916) and touchdowns (11). His numbers would be even higher if Ohio State hadn't had the luxury of dialing back his usage in blowout wins over Kent State and Maryland.

The Athletic's Nick Baumgardner mentioned Smith as joining Calvin Johnson and Julio Jones "among the best college receiver prospects we've seen this century."

This figures to be a game where Indiana will really miss 2025 All-American cornerback D'Angelo Ponds.

Neutralizing Smith altogether is probably out of the question. He's going to have an impact on Saturday in Bloomington.

For Cignetti and his staff, the objective is to prevent Smith from having the kind of monster performance that can swing the game in OSU's favor.