Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate injury update: Latest on Ohio State receivers, status vs. Michigan

Ohio State is looking to end a four-year losing streak to Michigan in Ann Arbor on Saturday. Playing without Jeremiah Smith or Carnell Tate, as they did against Rutgers last weekend, would make the task a whole lot harder.

Thankfully for the Buckeyes, that likely won’t be the case. After Smith missed Week 13 and Tate missed three games, with both suffering lower body ailments, Ohio State is expected to be at full strength in their receiving corps against the Wolverines, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

That’s huge news for Ohio State. Earlier this week, Smith told the media he anticipated playing vs. Michigan, even if he was still working through something: “I’m feeling good,” Smith said via Downs 2 Business. “You know, dealing with a little situation, injury-wise. But I should be good to go Saturday.”

Now, he’ll be on the field in Ann Arbor. Last year’s matchup saw Smith make little to no impact, eventually turning into a major storyline after the Ohio State loss.

He caught five passes for just 35 yards, and Ohio State, as a whole, finished with under 300 total yards. Not a spot where you want the offense to fall short. Head coach Ryan Day knows they will need to feed their best receiver moving forward.

Regardless, Tate and Smith are Ohio State’s two leading receivers entering the game, and they’ll be expecting a better performance in 2025. Smith accounts for 902 yards and 10 touchdowns on 69 catches, while Tate is producing 18.2 yards per reception. He totals 39 caught balls for 711 yards and seven touchdowns.

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Even without both stars last weekend, there was never much doubt about who would emerge victorious during Week 13 in Columbus. Ohio State put together an efficient performance on the offensive end, not needing to throw the ball downfield too much. 

Julian Sayin completed 13 of his 19 pass attempts for 157 yards and two touchdowns. Tight end Max Klare became his favorite target, connecting seven times for 105 yards and one of those scores.

Ohio State did most of its damage on the ground. Bo Jackson led the way with 110 yards on 19 carries, also getting into the end zone twice. In total, the Buckeyes rushed for 254 yards and averaged 6.7 yards per carry.

— On3’s Griffin McVeigh contributed to this article.