Just as Harding senior running back Rod Smith was signing his national letter of intent Wednesday in the school’s conference room, the comparisons started coming.

With his intention to Ohio State official on national signing day, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Smith has heard the comparisons to former Buckeyes standout and NFL player Chris “Beanie” Wells.

“Roderick Smith can be a Beanie Wells type,” ESPN national recruiting director Tom Luginbill said.

Wells, now with the Arizona Cardinals, ran for 1,609 yards in his freshman season with Ohio State and finished with 3,382 career yards, the seventh player in school history to gain more than 3,000 yards.

“That is a tough comparison,” Smith said. “It just motivates me to try to be as good as or better than him.”

The Buckeyes are expecting a lot out of Smith, who is the No. 8 prospect according to the National Collegiate Scouting Association. Smith was one of only two running backs to sign with Ohio State on Wednesday.

“I think he has good ball skills and to compare him to Beanie, a first-round draft choice, give me a little more time give me about a year, and we’ll try to make that comparison but he starts with similar physical attributes,” Ohio State running backs coach Dick Tressel said.

Smith ran for 6,625 yards in his four-year career with the Hawks, including 1,855 his final season. His combination of size and speed made him a unique commodity for the Buckeyes.

“They said I was definitely the type of back they don’t have right now,” he said. “They said they look at me like the No. 1 prospect in the nation. I am happy with that. I am going to try to give them what they want.”

Smith committed to the Buckeyes in July but has been on the school’s radar since before his sophomore season. There has been talk of Smith getting even bigger, but Tressel, older brother of Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel, said he doesn’t hope so.

“I hope he doesn’t get that big, because he’s fast,” Dick Tressel said of Smith reaching 230 or 240 pounds.

Harding coach Sherwood Haydock said the pressure of playing Big Ten football and possibly playing early won’t affect the mild-mannered Smith.

“He can’t get any more pressure,” Haydock said. “He is not going to be the Ohio State team. Here it became more of the Rod Smith Hawks and people changed their defenses for him. He is actually going to be relived of that.”

gjones@jg.net