Ohio State Buckeyes superstar wide receiver Jeremiah Smith let his frustration show during Ohio State’s 41-28 loss to Oregon on Saturday. And one longtime Buckeyes reporter was quick to offer some criticism.
The Buckeyes entered Saturday’s game needing a win to keep their dwindling College Football Playoff hopes alive after an injury to star quarterback Julian Sayin derailed their season last month. To say they didn’t get that would be an understatement, as Ohio State was thoroughly dominated on their own home field, and their biggest star certainly felt the frustration and let his emotion show.
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Smith, who is widely considered the top player in college football, went more than two full quarters without a catch as Oregon scored 38 straight points after falling behind 14-0 in Saturday’s game. Amidst that run from the Ducks, Smith was seen screaming toward the Ohio State sideline after finally hauling in a pass. That frustration continued throughout the rest of the contest as the game and Ohio State’s season slipped away.
Smith actually received some praise from the CBS commentary team for showing his competitive fire, but it’s safe to say that not everyone saw it that way.
After the game, longtime Ohio State reporter Jeremy Birmingham ripped Smith for the outburst on Snap Judgments for 97.1 The Fan in Columbus as he called the Heisman Trophy contender a “petulant child.”
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“You cannot be the best player in the country and a captain and all of the things that Jeremiah Smith is and go stomping down the field like a petulant child,” Birmingham said.
Smith did not respond directly to Birmingham’s comments, but he did make his feelings known on Sunday. The Ohio State star reposted a lengthy defense from former Ohio State and NFL center LeCharles Bentley, who took aim at Birmingham’s choice of words.
“Jeremiah has been EVERYTHING countercultural to today’s superstar CFB player. He’s established a new standard of individual excellence on and off the field at OSU. Literally everything fans claim they want in a player,” Bentley wrote. “Yet the moment he expresses something honest outside of his ability to play football, his maturity gets questioned. Suddenly, he’s a ‘petulant child’?”
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“Nah. You can disagree with a young man without questioning his character or maturity. The irony here, instead of articulating a salient point, the reporter resorts to name-calling…. Like a child. Leadership isn’t about making everyone comfortable,” Bentley continued.
Bentley wasn’t the only one who had an issue with Birmingham’s comments. Plenty of Ohio State fans were quick to bring up the allegations from Birmingham’s own past involving the program’s players.
In April 2025, Birmingham and Austin Ward, his current co-host at 97.1 The Fan, were fired “for cause” from THE Podcast, a popular Buckeyes show they hosted alongside Doug Lesmerises. Rumors quickly spread that the two had mishandled NIL money in a deal involving then-Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, which Ward denied and Birmingham called “patently false and libelous.”
Days later, an amended lawsuit from THE Media accused Birmingham and Ward of skimming money from sponsorships and ad deals that were exclusively intended to compensate Ohio State athletes for appearing on the podcast. The filing alleged that the pair admitted in writing to pocketing a portion of those funds, with Birmingham specifically stating that the leftover revenue was split between himself, Ward, and an unnamed third party. THE Media sued for civil theft, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment, and both men denied wrongdoing.
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Despite the allegations, the two landed a new show with 97.1 The Fan and 10TV in Columbus weeks later. Birmingham also returned to On3’s Lettermen Row last summer, three years after a separate lawsuit with On3 over his noncompete agreement. As of then, the THE Media lawsuit was still ongoing.
The post Ohio State reporter calls Jeremiah Smith a ‘petulant child’ after his visible frustration appeared first on Awful Announcing.
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