Devin Smith was never destined to rack up receptions at Ohio State. The track star specializing in sprints and the long jump out of Massillon High was a three-star recruit and his specialty was always going to be taking the top off the defense.
That’s exactly what he did during his time at Ohio State.
Smith played for the Buckeyes from 2011 and 2014, and despite only catching 14 passes as a freshman, his rookie season was memorable. Four of those 14 receptions went for touchdowns, including a tradition-starting
score in the first game of the season — a 42-0 beatdown of Akron.
He also scored on one of the most memorable plays in Ohio State football history to beat a ranked Wisconsin team.
Smith finished his first collegiate season with 294 receiving yards, but averaged 21 yards per catch that season. From that Wisconsin game on, Smith continuously showed a knack for getting behind opposing secondaries and catching touchdowns. He would victimize the Badgers again on the big stage later in his career.
As a sophomore, Smith more than doubled his reception and yardage totals, catching 30 passes for 618 yards. His touchdown total grew from four in 2011 to six in 2012. He opened the season with a 23-yard touchdown against Miami of Ohio in Ohio State’s first game, but boy what a way to open the team’s scoring, as Smith snared Braxton Miller’s pass with one hand to get the Buckeyes on the board.
It was a much-needed spark to an Ohio State team that started the game sleepy, trailing 3-0 at home entering the second quarter. From there, the Buckeyes rolled to a 56-10 win.
His first multi-touchdown game in his sophomore season came against California, when caught Miller dimes from 25 yards and 72 yards out, with the latter home run play serving as the difference in a wild 35-28 win. Smith made another game-winning play on Sept. 29 of that season when he blew past his man and completed a 63-yard catch and run down the sideline that ultimately decided a 17-16 road win over No. 20 Michigan State.
I particularly enjoy watching the members of TBDBITL jump up and down over the final yards of the play.
The final two touchdowns of Smith’s season were vital in helping Ohio State eke out a hard-fought 52-49 road win at Indiana. A 60-yard touchdown from Miller to Smith put the Buckeyes up 24-14 at halftime. The Hoosiers, however, would not go away.
When Smith caught an underneath pass just past the midway mark in the fourth quarter, he made a move to get outside and then outran the Indiana defense to make it 52-34. The game seemed over, but the Hoosiers fought back into it and Smith’s final touchdown once again proved to be the difference.
It was his final touchdown of the 2012 season, but his critical plays throughout the season helped Ohio State finish undefeated. Only a postseason ban could seemingly stop the Buckeyes that year.
During the 2013 season, the Buckeyes used Smith a little differently, using the deep threat as a decoy to throw shorter routes at times. Despite his average yards per catch dropping to a career-low 15, his other numbers improved across the board. He finished the year with 44 receptions for 660 yards and eight touchdowns.
Once again the speedy receiver wasted no time scoring his first touchdown of the season. His 47-yard touchdown opened the scoring in Ohio State’s first game, giving him the team’s first points of the season for the second consecutive year as the Buckeyes doubled up Buffalo 40-20.
It was deja vu all over again, as Smith failed to score in Week 2, but then made up for it by scoring twice against California — this time on the road. Kenny Guiton got the better of Jared Goff’s Golden Bears that day, opening the game’s scoring with a 90-yard touchdown to Smith.
Guiton froze the defense with a fake short to his right and then hit Smith over the top for a huge play.
Guiton to Smith also accounted for the game’s second touchdown, but this time the yardage was nearly cut in half. Smith’s second score came from 47 yards away to give the Buckeyes a 14-0 lead en route to a 52-34 road win.
In the next game, Smith scored a ho-hum 5-yard touchdown as Guiton threw for a school-record six touchdowns in a beatdown of Florida A&M. The Buckeyes were methodical that day, winning 76-0 with the longest scoring play covering just 18 yards. Smith’s 26-yard touchdown helped the Buckeyes beat No. 23 Wisconsin 31-24 a week later.
A 14-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Smith gave Ohio State the lead over Iowa at home on Oct. 19, 2013, and although the Hawkeyes, who had led earlier in the game, managed to pull level, the Buckeyes never trailed after Smith’s touchdown and won 34-24.
That run of three shorter touchdowns mangled Smith’s career average a bit, but a 39-yarder to cap Ohio State’s scoring in the fourth quarter of a 42-14 home win over Indiana got things going back in the right direction.
Smith scored from 53 yards out in the 2013 iteration of The Game, and every play was vital in that contest, as it came down to a failed 2-point try by the Wolverines at the end, with Ohio State winning 42-41 in the Big House.
It was his final touchdown catch of the year, as Smith caught only three passes for 16 yards in close postseason losses to Michigan State and Clemson — again crushing his per-catch average for the season. And while I’m not saying Ohio State lost both of those games because the Buckeyes didn’t throw deep to Smith, I’m not not saying it (and yeah, roll damn Hyde against the Spartans if you ever get your hands on a time machine, Urban).
Smith saved his best for last in a Buckeye uniform. The Akron native posted career highs in yardage (931), yards per catch (28.2 — best in the Big Ten), touchdowns (12), and yards per game (62.1) despite finishing with 33 receptions — 11 fewer than he recorded his junior year.
Ohio State got back to pushing Smith down the field to take the top off the defense and it worked, as Ohio State went on to win the national championship.
As a senior, Smith caught a pass in every game and scored a touchdown in eight different contests. Although he didn’t score Ohio State’s first points of the season to snap a two-year streak, Smith did score the Buckeyes’ first offensive touchdown of the season for the Buckeyes for the third consecutive year.
He also put the finishing touches on his personal four-year tradition of scoring a touchdown in the first game of the season. Ohio State had gotten two field goals and a defensive touchdown earlier in the game, but trailed Navy 14-13 at home.
That was only until Smith scored from 80 yards out on a J.T. Barrett pass.
The Buckeyes never trailed again and went on to win 34-17.
Smith caught a 58-yard pass but did not score in the close home loss to Virginia Tech, but he scored a 50-yarder in a 66-0 rout of Kent State a week later.
The first of Smith’s three multi-touchdown games came in the final non-conference game on Sept. 27, 2014 against Cincinnati — a 50-28 home win. Smith’s two scoring plays went 19 and 34 yards, with the latter serving as the game’s final points with 10:26 to play. His 30-yard touchdown helped Ohio State win 52-24 at Maryland to kick off Ohio State’s October schedule.
After being held without a touchdown by Rutgers and Penn State — both wins — Smith took it out on Illinois, scoring twice on his three receptions. Smith posted 72 receiving yards in the 55-14 home victory, scoring from 32 yards out in the first quarter and adding an 8-yard touchdown reception in the second.
He followed that up with a six-catch, 129-yard day in a 49-37 win at Michigan State, including a 44-yard touchdown thrown by Barrett late in the second quarter to put the Buckeyes ahead to stay. He scored in the opposite end zone from his game-winner at East Lansing two years earlier.
Smith again went two games without a touchdown in wins over Indiana and Michigan, saving them up for his biggest college game ever. Ohio State entered the Big Ten Championship Game undefeated against Wisconsin and needed to make a statement to get into the College Football Playoff.
The Buckeyes had lost Barrett to injury in the Michigan game and backup Cardale Jones — the team’s third-string signal caller entering preseason camp — was poised to start for Ohio State against the Badgers. What followed is etched in everyone’s memory, as it was a performance for the ages.
Jones carved the Wisconsin secondary to pieces, largely using Smith to do it, on the way to a 59-0 dismantling of the Badgers. Smith caught touchdown passes covering 39, 44, and 42 yards in the game, for his only three-score performance of his college career.
It was one shy of the school record for touchdown receptions in a game (the record of four is shared by Noah Brown, Dane Sanzenbacher, Terry Glenn, and Bob Grimes). In all, Smith caught four passes for 137 of the 257 yards Jones threw for on the night.
Smith worked hard for his catches and his points. He was well covered deep on the game’s first score, but he did well to slam on the brakes in the end zone and come back for the ball, taking advantage of the defensive back not locating the football.
The 44-yarder was a little underthrown, but Smith did well to slow and not lose sight of the ball as it went just over the defensive back’s shoulder, making it 24-0 early in the second quarter. The third touchdown was the most impressive of all, as the veteran receiver fought through contact in the end zone to make an incredible catch in the third quarter.
Smith was the star as Ohio State abslutely clobbered the nation’s No. 13 team on the big stage, punching its ticket to the CFP.
Because the Buckeyes weren’t done yet, neither was Smith. Ohio State picked up one of its most iconic wins in the national semifinal game against No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, and Smith’s big-play capability played a pivotal role.
The Buckeyes trailed 21-20 at halftime after fighting back from a 21-6 deficit. Smith scored the first points of the second half with a 47-yard pass from Jones to put Ohio State up for good. It didn’t hurt that the cornerback fell on the play, but Smith already had him beaten.
It wasn’t Smith’s only big play in the game. An earlier 40-yard reception set up a field goal as the senior finished the game with two catches for 87 yards and Ohio State held off the favorites 42-35 to set up a national championship showdown with Oregon.
While Smith didn’t score against the Ducks, he provided yet another explosion play on his lone catch, catching a 45-yard pass to the Oregon 6-yard line in the second quarter. Jones carried it in from there to make it 21-7 on the way to a 42-20 win and a natty.
The championship capped an incredible career for Ohio State’s big-play receiver, who stands fourth in school history in receiving touchdowns (30), although he is just three ahead of Jeremiah Smith, so he’ll likely slip to fifth this year.
His 20.7 yards per reception stands fourth in school history behind Cedric Anderson’s 21.3, Doug Donley’s 21.2, and Terry Glenn’s 21.2. He is ninth in OSU history in career yards, with 2,503 after being passed by namesake Jeremiah in 2025.
There have been many memorable careers in Ohio State football history, but Devin Smith’s stands out for his ability to strike from anywhere on the field.
Smith was a second-round draft pick of the New York Jets in 2015 (No. 37 overall), but he never had the kind of career one might imagine for such a big-play receiver.
Part of that could be that virtually ever skill position player in the NFL has track speed, but some of it likely owes to a torn ACL suffered in the offseason prior to the 2017 NFL season. Smith played for the Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars after leaving the Jets, and he also signed with New England and Carolina but did not appear in a game.
Regardless of his postscript in the Sunday league, Ohio State fans will never forget the timely and game-changing plays Smith brought to Columbus.
