IOWA CITY, Iowa — Jeremiah Smith rewrote Ohio State’s receiving records in dramatic fashion on Oct. 3.
As the Buckeyes approached midfield during the third quarter of their 31-14 win at Iowa, quarterback Julian Sayin faked a handoff to running back Isaiah West, sidestepped a linebacker and flung a pass toward the east end of Kinnick Stadium.
The ball landed in Smith’s grasp as he found himself a step past safety Anthony Hawkins just shy of the Hawkeyes’ 10-yard line. While Hawkins attempted a diving tackle to trip up Smith, it barely broke his stride.
Smith waltzed into the end zone for a 57-yard score that left him as the school’s all-time leader in receptions and touchdown catches as well as receiving yards, a record he broke a week earlier in a win
over Illinois.
“Every coach in America is going to say, ‘We’ve got to take this guy away,’ ” Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said. “So, the challenge is trying to figure out ways to get it to him.”
The Buckeyes saw an opportunity with the play-action, a play they had worked on in practices in the days leading up to kickoff.
They set it up with running back Ja’Kobi Jackson, who carried the ball on each of the two previous plays, pushing the Buckeyes to their 43-yard line as they held a 17-6 lead.
While Iowa’s highly ranked defense has long limited explosive plays by dropping as many as eight defenders into coverage, they were prone to bite on the fake and leave Smith in a favorable matchup.
“I was one-on-one with a safety,” Smith said. “That’s why we liked it.”
Smith finished with 11 catches for 206 yards and two touchdowns in their top-15 matchup with the Hawkeyes.
It was the second straight game in which Smith finished with at least 200 receiving yards, following last week’s 12 catches for 217 yards and four touchdowns against the Illini.
“We worked hard on designing those plays and trying to give him an opportunity, especially the ones down the field and then the touches underneath,” Day said. “The only way that works is if he practices the way he does to work through all the issues and timing that comes with it on a weekly basis. I can’t say enough about who he is as a person.”
Smith tied Chris Olave’s record of 35 receiving touchdowns late in the second quarter.
After motioning out wide, he ran his route toward the corner, caught the pass from Sayin and leapt over cornerback Jaylen Watson to extend the ball to cross the goal line.
But his record-setting deep haul in the third quarter marked the exclamation point on his afternoon, and Smith added to the highlight with his celebration.
As he approached the end zone’s back line, he looked into the crowd and struck the Heisman Trophy pose.
It was the second time this season that he mimicked the bronze trophy for college football’s most outstanding player following a touchdown.
“I've just got to keep the Heisman voters or whoever it is (aware) that I’m the best player in the country,” Smith said.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow him on @joeyrkaufman on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: The play that etched Jeremiah Smith’s name atop Ohio State football’s record book
