On Dec. 20, 2023, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day stood before the media during Early National Signing Day. Day was accustomed to signing top-tier talent, but when official confirmation arrived that the nation’s No. 1 recruit had signed his paperwork, the coach nearly fell to his knees in sheer relief.
"Really?" Day asked, dropping his head as the tension melted away.
At the time, it seemed like just another five-star wide receiver arriving in Columbus — a routine occurrence for the Buckeyes. What college football didn't realize yet was that Jeremiah Smith had just set into motion the most prolific receiving career in Big Ten history.
The Freshman Phenom
Smith was no ordinary recruit. Coming off a legendary career at Chaminade-Madonna Prep— where he racked up 3,116 receiving yards, 46 touchdowns, and three state titles — he stepped onto campus as the highest-rated wide receiver recruit in modern recruiting history, carrying the weight of a renowned position group on his shoulders.
Yet, high school accolades mean little when stepping onto Ohio State’s roster, where every newcomer is assigned a black stripe down the center of their helmet. The tape serves as a rite of passage, remaining until coaches agree that a player has earned his spot in the program. Most freshmen wait months — or even an entire season — to shed it.
Smith needed just four practices. In March 2024, he became the fastest freshman in Ohio State history to lose his black stripe, shedding it ahead of notable transfers like Caleb Downs. The message inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center was immediate: Ohio State’s next star had arrived.
When the 2024 season kicked off against Akron, Smith showed that his poise matched his physical gifts. His collegiate debut started with a dropped pass, but rather than letting a shaky start snowball, Smith responded on the next drive, hauling in his first career touchdown catch.
It proved to be the opening act of a freshman campaign filled with highlight-reel moments. Smith started his college football career with seven straight games finding the end zone, tallying at least 70 receiving yards in every contest. In consecutive weeks against Michigan State and Iowa, he made viral one-handed touchdown catches. The latter was a tightly contested grab that prompted sheer disbelief on the broadcast: "How many times is this kid gonna do this?!"
The humble superstar was putting the college football world on notice just a few games into his career.
By the end of the regular season, Smith was rewriting history. He broke Cris Carter’s 40-year-old Ohio State freshman records, passing Carter’s marks for receiving yards (648), receptions (41), and receiving touchdowns (eight) before postseason play even began.
By winter, he wasn't just the best young receiver in the country; he was the focal point of Ohio State’s run to their ninth national championship. In the Buckeyes' postseason opener against Tennessee, he hauled in a touchdown on the opening drive before adding another later in the game. The following week against Oregon in the Rose Bowl, he put together a masterclass: seven receptions for 187 yards and two touchdowns, including a 45-yard score on the third play from scrimmage.
In the title game against Notre Dame, the true freshman set the tone early by scoring Ohio State's first touchdown of the night. Then, up 31-23 in the fourth quarter, Smith converted a third-and-11 into a backbreaking 56-yard reception, helping set up Jayden Fielding for the championship-clinching field goal.
Smith finished his freshman year with 76 receptions, 1,315 receiving yards, and 15 touchdowns — handily leading the Big Ten in both receiving yards and scores. With a ring already on his finger, he was just getting started.
The Sophomore Surge
Entering his second season, Smith’s reputation as one of the best in the game was well known, and he was the emphasis of defensive gameplans. Coordinators rolled safety help and bracketed him weekly. The extra layer of attention was highlighted in his six-catch, 43-yard performance in Ohio State’s victory over Texas to open 2025.
It didn't matter as the year went on. He immediately bounced back to make history inside Ohio Stadium, taking a pass 87 yards to the house against Grambling State for the longest Buckeyes’ pass play in the Horseshoe’s storied history.
As Big Ten play unfolded, Smith continued to rack up signature moments, including scoring the Buckeyes’ first touchdown of conference action against Washington and two the next week against Minnesota. To open November, he had a 123-yard, two-touchdown game against Penn State at the Shoe, his second touchdown a one-handed grab off a deflected pass.
Come his 20th birthday, Smith scored the opening touchdown in Ann Arbor against Michigan with a 35-yard score on fourth-and-5. He helped lead the Buckeyes to their first win over the Wolverines since 2019, cementing a 12-0 regular season record and berth in the 2025 Discover Big Ten Football Championship Game.
While the Buckeyes’ postseason did not go as hoped — dropping the conference title to Indiana and losing the CFP Quarterfinal against Miami — the wide receiver’s production did not slow down. He recorded multiple 100+ yard games, and by season’s end, he led the conference with 87 catches and 1,243 yards, capturing his second consecutive Big Ten Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year award. He earned unanimous All-American honors and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting.
Smith was quietly stacking numbers at a record pace, setting up a junior season where school and conference immortality were well within reach.
Junior Year: Captain Makes Buckeye History
No. 4 was named a team captain in the offseason and wasted no time starting his 2026 campaign. His first catch was a 48-yard touchdown that he used one hand to pin the ball on his helmet. The next week against Texas, who contained him in two previous matchups, he had eight catches for 164 yards and a score.
Smith was on the cusp of program history. The first domino fell against Kent State the week after, when Smith passed Michael Jenkins’ long-standing program record of 2,898 receiving yards — a mark he accomplished in 41 games that had stood for over two decades — in just his 32nd career game.
In his postgame presser, Smith kept it short: "I'm blessed, but I got two more to get."
It didn’t take long when Big Ten play hit, first putting up 12 receptions for 217 yards and four touchdowns against Illinois in the Buckeyes’ conference opener. With it, he became the first player in 11 years to log 200+ receiving yards and four touchdowns in a Big Ten game.
The next week on the road against Iowa at Kinnick Stadium, Smith exploded for 11 catches, 206 yards, and 2 touchdowns. His signature moment came in the third quarter on a 57-yard touchdown, when Smith struck the Heisman pose in the end zone after becoming Ohio State's all-time leader in receiving touchdowns. Then, on the very next drive, he hauled in his 10th catch of the day to break Emeka Egbuka’s school career receptions record.
Conference Immortality
With the Ohio State record book rewritten, Smith turned his focus toward the conference standard. Two scores against Maryland put him only one touchdown away from tying Braylon Edwards’ receiving touchdowns record. That came on the road against defending champion Indiana on a 38-yard pass from Julian Sayin on fourth-and-1 in the final quarter.
Though Ohio State earned revenge from the 2025 Discover Big Ten Football Championship Game with a 19-15 win over the Hoosiers, it came with a major plot twist. That record-tying score was the final connection between Smith and starting quarterback Julian Sayin before the 2025 Heisman finalist was ruled out for multiple weeks.
But, history doesn’t wait for ideal circumstances.
On October 31 in front of 70,810 at the Los Angeles Coliseum against USC, the moment finally arrived. On a second-and-goal in the fourth quarter, Luke Fahey targeted Smith near the left pylon, where he hauled in the catch and kept both feet in for a one-yard touchdown — his 40th career receiving score, placing him alone atop Big Ten history.
After the trip to Los Angeles, Smith sat 164 yards away from the receiving yards record. The Buckeyes came home against Oregon, where he had 133 yards and a score — his third 100+ yard game with a touchdown against the Ducks, and also his 16th 100+ yard game, passing Marvin Harrison Jr. fFor the most in Ohio State history.
That put him just 31 yards shy entering Nov. 14’s matchup against Northwestern. The final domino fell when Smith hauled in a 22-yard dart in stride, taking the Buckeyes all the way down to the Wildcat 11-yard line to set up an Ohio State touchdown later in the drive. The catch officially pushed Smith past Purdue's John Standeford (3,788 career yards), securing the Big Ten all-time receiving yardage record. In just three seasons, the South Florida phenom officially claimed sole possession of the Big Ten career records for receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
If that wasn’t enough in Columbus, Smith tallied 117 yards and a touchdown, tying him all-time for the most 100-yard games in Big Ten history with Braylon Edwards and Purdue’s David Bell. The score was his 42nd, continuing to separate himself atop the touchdown leaderboards.
Day said Ohio State had a good plan for how to get Smith the ball. He said Fahey and Smith executed that plan well.
“Well, at the end of the day, the No. 1 goal is to win, but we also have an obligation to this young man,” he said. “What he’s done for our program, who he is as a person, how he plays, what he does for his teammates, what he means for this program. He deserves the opportunity to touch the football.”
Day’s sigh of relief on Signing Day in 2023 was the sound of a program knowing it had landed someone special. Less than three seasons later, with the Big Ten’s all-time records for receiving yards and touchdowns now sitting firmly next to his name, Smith officially cemented his status as a conference legend.
And he’s not done yet.