SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.: The oldest of Corey Smith’s five children turns 7 on Saturday, and his son Davell knows what he wants for his birthday as he attends the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl.
“He keeps saying, ‘Dad, you’ve got to score,’ ” Smith said Thursday. “I say, ‘I know son.’ I told him, ‘If I get the ball enough, I’m going to score for you, so don’t even worry about it.’ ”
If Smith can fulfill that promise, it would be a gift for the Buckeyes as well. The former Buchtel High School standout broke his right wrist trying to block a punt in practice before the Oklahoma game Sept. 17.
Slated to start this season for a receiving corps that has failed to find a go-to guy, Smith was limited to seven games and caught only four passes for seven yards. It continued a star-crossed career that saw him fracture two bones in his left leg in October 2015 at Indiana, which led to him being granted a medical redshirt and a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA.
When No. 3 OSU takes on No. 2 Clemson in the College Football Playoff semifinal, Smith will try to make the type of contributions he turned in during the Buckeyes’ run to the 2014 national title. He excelled on special teams in the upset of No. 1 Alabama, then caught two passes for 76 yards in a 42-20 rout of Oregon, although he fumbled after a 50-yard gain. Smith’s 26-yard reception on third-and-8 against the Ducks ignited OSU’s first touchdown drive.
He finished that season with 20 catches for 255 yards; he now stands at 29 for 324 yards and no touchdowns in his career.
“I feel like injuries have been holding me back a lot,” Smith said during media day at the J.W. Marriott Camelback Inn. “I feel like God’s got a plan and a time for different stuff and obviously it wasn’t my time. The times I’ve gotten hurt were probably to wake me up and see different things.
“But I feel like I can do pretty much what any receiver in the country can do as far as catching the ball, running routes. I’ve got to go out there and really show that. I’m going to be prepared to play on Saturday.”
Smith admitted he was frustrated after punter Cameron Johnston kicked his hand and he dislocated his wrist, which required surgery to have pins inserted.
“I was kind of lost, in a bad place,” Smith said. “I had to really get around my teammates and my coaches and keep my head high. I know what I can do and my teammates know what I can do because I do it in practice.”
Smith tried to play, but said it was too painful. Against Michigan, he said he was at about 80 percent. The pins were removed three or four weeks ago and Smith said he has been diligent in his rehab so he can help the Buckeyes in the playoff.
“I’m going to be playing a lot of receiver and a lot of special teams on Saturday,” he said. “It’s just about making the most of your opportunities when you get ’em. Like coach [Urban] Meyer says, ‘The bigger the game, the more the athletes should come out.’ ”
ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, the former OSU quarterback who will serve as the network’s analyst Saturday, believes the Tigers will focus on stopping the Buckeyes’ play-making H-back Curtis Samuel and limiting quarterback J.T. Barrett’s runs.
“Nobody’s as smart and knows his offense like Urban Meyer. He knows the way they played against Michigan State and Michigan is not going to cut it in this game,” Herbstreit said. “Their passing game is going to have to be much better if they’re going to win this game because Clemson has had four weeks to prepare. They’re going to put everybody up at the line of scrimmage. You heard their safety come out and say it, ‘Who else can beat us besides No. 4 and No. 16?’ Urban knows that.
“That’s why I’m sitting here saying, ‘Who is it going to be?’ If Ohio State wins, we’re going to be in the postgame talking to K.J. Hill — ‘My gosh, where did this come from?’ — or it’s going to be Noah Brown — ‘It’s been since Oklahoma, welcome back.’ Somebody’s going to be making plays that hasn’t been making plays for the last seven or eight weeks.”
Smith could fit that bill. He still has aspirations of playing in the NFL and has much to prove, although he’ll surely go undrafted.
“I’ve still got everything right in front of me,” Smith said. “Regardless if I didn’t have the season I wanted after I got hurt, I know at the next level I’m going to be able to produce and make plays. That’s what they’re looking for, somebody that’s able to change the game.”
Receivers coach Zach Smith shares the belief that the oft-injured receiver belongs in the NFL.
“He’s gone through a lot of adversity, but he can handle it. He’s met the adversity the right way — head on, he’s attacking it,” Zach Smith said. “He’s going to have a career in football. He’ll be undervalued when he leaves here and underappreciated and hopefully he’s able to turn all that into a positive.
“He’ll get into a camp. He’ll come out at pro day and impress a lot of people. [Former Kentucky coach, now OSU quality control assistant] Joker Phillips and I talk about it all the time, you’re going to blink and that kid’s going to have a 10-year career in the NFL. ‘Whoa, where did that come from?’ because he’s that talented and he wants to. He’s going to work at it. I’m excited to have him back and have him contribute to the offense in this next game.”
Zach Smith said his relationship with Corey Smith is among the closest he’s ever had. Meyer has said on more than one occasion how much he loves Smith.
“From when he came here to who he is now, it’s night and day the growth and development as a person, a player,” Zach Smith said. “It’s phenomenal. Seeing a kid that buys into what you’re trying to do and makes that kind of transformation, you have a special place in your heart for him.
“When you watch him run down on kickoff against Alabama, then he was the leading receiver against Oregon in 2014, he spills it, he gives his heart to the team and does whatever you ask. It’s hard not to love a kid like that.”
Junior linebacker and co-captain Raekwon McMillan has also seen the transformation, saying Smith was “very immature and didn’t act his age” when he transferred in from East Mississippi Community College in 2013. Now McMillan says he admires Smith for the way he’s become a father to his kids, whom he frequently brings to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
His children, who range in age from 7 to 1, will be on his mind Saturday. Even if he doesn’t fulfill his son’s birthday wish, he will leave Columbus as the first in his family to graduate from college and proud of how he persevered.
“I’m definitely proud of myself,” he said. “Before I got here, before I started playing football I came in with nothing. I’ve gained a lot of character, a lot of humility, a lot of toughness.”