ATLANTA -- Freshman Jeremiah Smith was held accountable for the Buckeyes' loss against Notre Dame on Saturday after being limited to one catch in Ohio State's Cotton Bowl semifinal win over Texas. A warning was issued before the university's national championship game.

“If you’re going to play man-to-man defense against Ohio State, be prepared,” Smith said. “I can’t wait to get on the show.”

Smith noted multiple times during media day that the Irish were playing man-to-man coverage "80 percent" of the time, and he admitted he enjoyed it when defenses tried to stop him with just one defender.

"(What the Irish did) they did very, very well. So it would be a little silly for them to change what they do," Ohio State wide receivers coach Brian Hartline told ESPN. "They're really, really good players, great players on the outside. We're great players on the outside. That's what you want in a game of this size."

After Smith had his best game of the season (187 yards and two touchdowns) in the Rose Bowl against Oregon, Texas' secondary betrayed Smith in Buckeyes' win Smith's only catch in the process was for 3 yards.

“You look at the movie — they doubled, tripled me,” Smith said. “It was frustrating, but being the decoy helped us win the game.”

In his first year at Ohio State, Smith became a superstar, catching 71 passes for 1,227 yards and 14 touchdowns. In this game, he averaged 17.3 yards per catch.

"He's one of the most talented players I've ever seen ... you always want to try to get him the ball," quarterback Will Howard said. "But he can also take out two or three people at once (as decoys), and sometimes that's a good thing."

Smith's performance in the Cotton Bowl was his least productive so far this season, but it helped set the stage for Carnell Tate (seven catches for 87 yards) and Quinshon Judkins (two catches). ball touchdown) and other technical players create opportunities.

It remains to be seen whether the Irish try to change their usual style of play to limit Smith, or stick to their plan. While Smith noted that Notre Dame's secondary may be the best they've faced all season, he's ready for the challenge.

"If I have to be the bait in this game, I'm going to be the bait," Smith said. "All I want to do is win."

Additionally, Ohio State star DE JT Tuimoloau, who sprained his ankle against Texas, spoke about his health and injury situation.

"I feel really good. I feel really good. One thing, our strength coach said you can't take too much care of your body, so I was overtaxed in taking care of everything."

Tuimolo said he has been somewhat limited in taking care of his ankle in training.

"Coach Day and I had a conflict; I wanted to get out of there and he wanted me to rest, so we met somewhere in the middle."