Michigan backer Rich Eisen responds to Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith's 'promise'

You make a bold statement at the expense of another proud group, you can expect a little pushback. That pushback gets even more force when it happens within the constraints of one of the most heated rivalries in all of sports.

For a little background, Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith made a bold prediction and guarantee when he sat down for an interview (subscription may be required) with The Athletic's Manny Navarro. He didn't mince too many words when talking about Michigan and how he feels about the program, but he went even further in guaranteeing victory over the next two seasons.

“I’m not a sore loser, but I hate losing, and losing to that team up north was pretty crazy,” Smith said. “In the end, I think it really helped us play the way we did in the playoffs. But I didn’t want to go to Ohio State and lose to that team up north. I just hate them. Just something about them. For the next two years, I promise you, I will not lose to them. I can’t lose to them in the next two years.”

Well, one of Michigan's best backers, Rich Eisen, took a bit of an exception to that claim and was ready to respond on his show Wednesday. To his credit, Eisen gave Smith his due for the player that he is, but he was ready to sum up a response to the guarantee with one simple word. Before that though, he took some time to dissect what Smith had to say.

"By the way, in case anybody's wondering what he means by that team up north, because there's a lot of teams north of Columbus, Ohio, right, that they play against, Eisen said. "Technically Minnesota's north of Columbus, Ohio, northwest, I mean. Penn State is north of Columbus, Ohio. I don't know. I mean, I'm not going to do -- you know, give me give me some latitude, if you will, literally and figuratively. Michigan State's north of Columbus, Ohio, that is correct. But the team up north is Michigan."

Eisen then went on to dive into what the Freshman All-American meant by the loss to Michigan helping Ohio State play better.

"And in case you're wondering what he means by that, he's referring to Michigan's win in Columbus, when they came from up north, down south, and put a stunning spank job on Ohio State, even though it was a close game," Eisen continued. "But you know, it's a spank job when you only have five losses coming in the game with a walk-on quarterback, and three wins against the school in a row that was supposed to be a winning streak coming to an end because Michigan lost to almost everybody. One year, it was Michigan beats everybody. This past year was everybody beats Michigan, it felt like. And at any rate, they then went on and won it all after that."

And that's when Eisen got to the heart of his response, the rebuttal to Smith guaranteeing victory over "that team up north" the next two seasons, summing it up with one word.

"I have one word: noted," Eisen said. "Noted. We will make a note of that. And I'll just tell this to Jeremiah. Jeremiah, I'm addressing you. Very talented. You're very, very talented. You might be the best out of all of them. Marvin Harrison Jr., Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson. Garrett Wilson was the last, if I'm not mistaken -- what year did he get drafted by the New York Jets? He was drafted in the 2022 draft? He lost his last game to Michigan, and that's been four years in a row. And the team that beat Ohio State last year -- not as good as the one that's gonna be there. Team 146 is better than Team 145. I can't wait."

Here's a look at the entire, short, yet poignant segment from Eisen for your listening and viewing pleasure.

It's not like you can ratchet up the intensity of this matchup with where it stands right now, but Smith's comments will do nothing to lower the temperature. You can bet Michigan players will be gunning for him when the two teams tussle in Ann Arbor on Nov. 29 at high Noon.

This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Rich Eisen responds to Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith's guarantee