Wide receiver Jeremiah Smith still has ground to cover as he chases Ohio State's all-time receptions and receiving touchdown records, but a career-best performance against Illinois on Sept. 26 put him within striking distance of both individual titles.
During Ohio State's 42-19 win over Illinois, Smith grabbed four touchdowns and 12 catches for 217 yards, all career-high marks in a single game.
"I think he's taken his game to the next level this year," Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. "When you looked at him the first couple of years, it was hard to say, 'OK, how can he get better?' But you're seeing it, because the run after catch, and he did it in a variety of ways."
While the Buckeyes had running backs Bo Jackson and Ja'Kobi Jackson chipping
away at yardage early in the opening drive, quarterback Julian Sayin eventually connected with Smith on a 31-yard pass into double coverage on Ohio State's seventh play.
Two plays later, Smith worked his way in front of Illinois defensive back Juice Clarke to set up a 7-yard touchdown reception.
Of Sayin's 367 passing yards throughout the game, 59.1% came on passes to Smith, with all four of his passing touchdowns landing in Smith's hands.
"Being in the meetings with the quarterbacks, understanding what they're seeing out there on the field helps a lot," Smith said. "Know what Julian's like, and how I should run a route, and things that he likes and things that he sees."
Illinois had first-hand knowledge of Smith's speed and ability following a 34-16 loss to the Buckeyes last season. The Fighting Illini limited Smith to five catches for 42 yards in their home matchup, though he still scored a touchdown.
"I said it last year" Illinois coach Bret Bielema said. "Been in this league for a long time, but even when I was in the SEC, even when I was in the NFL, you see guys that are different type players, right? And he just continues to play extremely big. Very physical."
Bielema praised Smith's physicality after catches, which contributed 53 additional yards to his total in this latest meeting between Ohio State and Illinois.
Smith logged 27 of his yards after catch when he converted a 45-yard pass from Sayin into a 72-yard touchdown with 3:39 remaining in the first quarter. As defensive back Mac Resetich recovered from Smith beating him out to collect the ball, Smith used two quick fake moves to trip up Resetich and create a clear path to the end zone.
On his third touchdown, caught in coverage on the same right sideline with 4:12 left in the second quarter, Smith managed to get his left foot inside the end zone despite being taken down by Illinois defensive back Tywan Cox.
"He's a really good route runner," Day said. "But how can we be better with run after the catch? Just to catch the ball is important. You've got to secure the ball, you've got to come up with the ball at the end of the play, but there you can see the effort [from Smith] of, 'No, I'm getting into the end zone at the end of this play.' So, the more we can put him in those situations, we're going to do that."
Smith continued displaying confidence in running each route against Illinois, but he admitted his fourth touchdown, on which Illinois' Clarke spun to the left while Smith made an uncontested 26-yard catch in the right corner of the end zone, was simplified by Illinois' defensive formation.
"We knew what coverage they were in," Smith said. "I knew the ball was coming to me on the inside nine. So, obviously I knew before the play I was going to score."
HOW DID JEREMIAH SMITH GET HIS LEFT FOOT DOWN!? pic.twitter.com/uo8FTJDUOm
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 26, 2026
Smith needs 10 receptions to break Emeka Egbuka's program-high 205 and two touchdown catches to break Chris Olave's program-high 36. The Buckeyes junior is already Ohio State's all-time receiving yards leader with 3,175 and counting.
Assistant sports editor Lori Schmidt contributed to this report.
bmackay@dispatch.com
@brimackay15
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: How Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith put together career-best performance vs Illinois
