The next get-together at the Heisman House might be just a little bit awkward.

One day after 1991 Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard questioned Ohio State star Jeremiah Smith's Heisman candidacy, Fox analyst Robert Griffin III, the 2011 Heisman recipient, defended Smith while calling the Buckeyes' game against Northwestern on Saturday, Nov. 14.

“When you talk about the Heisman Trophy, my guy Desmond Howard, he’s been very critical of Jeremiah Smith and said, ‘When does this guy ever show up in big-time games?'” Griffin said. “Well, he’s shown up in big-time games all over the place, and Desmond Howard has to stop hating on Jeremiah Smith just because he goes to Ohio State. That’s not the right way to do this, and we’ve got to be better in our Heisman brotherhood.”

Smith has been one of the leading contenders throughout the season for college football's most hallowed individual award. The junior has 80 catches for 1,317 yards and 15 touchdowns this season. In a 28-19 win against Northwestern on Saturday, he had 11 receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown. He's maintained those outrageous numbers even after Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin was injured in an Oct. 17 win at Indiana.

For all of Smith's production and his obvious potential as a superstar at the next level, Howard criticized him during an appearance on ESPN for what the former Michigan star sees as a failure to make a big impact in big games.

“When you talk about Jeremiah, it’s more than just losing Julian Sayin," Howard said. "You’ve got to have those moments. In the last two years, give me one game where Jeremiah Smith, the wide receiver at Ohio State, was the difference in a big game in the last two years. This season and last season. Give me that game. As much as he puts up these magnificent numbers and these one-handed catches, I need moments against the top competition that makes me say ‘he was the guy.'"

Howard's criticism, which some fans have been unable to separate from the perpetually contentious Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, doesn't fully match the reality. Smith had 164 receiving yards in the Buckeyes' Sept. 12 loss at Texas and 206 yards in an Oct. 3 win at Iowa in a matchup of top-15 teams. Even though he finished with only 68 receiving yards in a 19-15 win at Indiana that snapped the Hoosiers' 22-game win streak, Smith scored a fourth-quarter touchdown that ultimately proved to be the difference for Ohio State.

Going back earlier in Smith's career, he had 144 yards in the Big Ten championship game in 2025 against Indiana, 157 yards in a College Football Playoff loss to Miami last season, and a star-making showing on Ohio State's run to a national championship in the 2024 season, which included 103 yards in a first-round playoff win against Tennessee, 187 yards in a playoff quarterfinal blowout of Oregon and 88 yards in the national title game against Notre Dame, which was capped off by a game-sealing 56-yard catch late in the fourth quarter.

For as much as Griffin seems to welcome public confrontations with fellow media members, he seems to have a stronger argument than his fellow member of the Heisman fraternity.