Ohio State hasn’t played against Miami (Fla.) since the 2011 season when the Buckeyes were being led by interim head coach Luke Fickell, but some of the current players on the OSU roster still have a connection with the Hurricanes.
Both sophomore wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and junior defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr. went to high school in Miami and are excited to play against their hometown team in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31.
Jackson said his family was full of Miami fans when he grew up Miami Gardens, Fla., and he has been hoping to play against them since he came to Ohio State.
“I watched a lot of Miami games. I went to a couple Miami games as well. My family is huge Miami Hurricane fans. I don’t know about now, but they were,” Jackson said. “I mean, down there, Dade County is pretty big, Miami Hurricanes are pretty big. And it means a lot going against them. I’ve been wanting to go against them for the longest time, and here we are.”
Smith went to the same high school as Jackson, both coming to Ohio State out of Chaminade-Madonna Prep, and both were recruited by Miami before they chose the Buckeyes.
Smith said he still has a good relationship with the coaches who recruited him with the Hurricanes as well as some of the players he played with or against in high school who ended up with Miami.
“I’m very excited to play the guys from back home. It’s like a second home for me. I’m from there,” Smith said. “I have good relationship with a lot of the coaches and a lot of the players on the team. Many I played out there in high school.”
With the relationships he already has with some of those players, Smith understands that he could be a target for some of the Hurricanes, but it’s not something he’s concerned about going into the game, because he plans to participate in it.
“Late hits, I’m not worried about that because I’m probably going to be doing it, too,” Smith said. “I’m going to be a little chippy out there. I’ll be bringing it all this week.
But he knows that he can’t let his emotions take him too far when game time comes.
“I know I’ve got to keep my emotions (in check),” Smith said. “A lot of guys on this Miami team I played with or played against in high school. I know I’ve got to keep my emotions (in check) because there’s going to be a little chippiness out there. Coach Day, everybody is going to tell me to keep my emotions in check and not get a 15-yard penalty.”
Any sort of rivalry there is between the Hurricanes and Buckeyes goes into the family for Jackson.
Jackson’s uncle, Rudy Barber Jr., played for Miami as an offensive lineman. Jackson said there hasn’t been any friendly banter between him and his uncle, but he believes that might be coming when he heads back home for Christmas.
While it has been 23 years since the Buckeyes beat Miami in the national championship as big underdogs, Jackson and Smith have both heard all about that game and the controversy that surrounded it.
“I didn’t really hear about it until my freshman year when I got on campus here,” Jackson said. “They were telling me different types of stories about Ohio State cheated the game, whatever the case may be. But that’s all I heard about it.”
“All over the Internet, all over Twitter, (Miami fans) still talk about it years later,” Smith said when asked if there’s still animosity with Ohio State based on the national championship game. “They’re still worried about it, but we’ve got something for them come New Year’s Eve.”
Senior running back CJ Donaldson Jr. is also from Miami, coming out of Gulliver Prep as a tight end before quickly transitioning to be a running back when he started at West Virginia.
Smith’s teammate in the wide receiver room, junior captain Brandon Inniss, is from Hollywood, Fla., and played with Smith on the South Florida Express 7-on-7 team, so he will also be going up against his hometown team as well.
If the Buckeyes get through Miami and Smith, Jackson, Inniss and Donaldson beat their hometown team, they will be just one win away from getting to play in the national championship in Miami at Hard Rock Stadium.
