Jeremiah Smith may have just stamped the game that will define his Heisman push.
Ohio State’s star receiver has been on a heater to open the season, but Saturday’s 42-19 win over Illinois felt different. It wasn’t just another big outing. It looked like the kind of performance people point back to later and say, that’s when the race turned.
Smith turned in a monster line: 12 catches, 217 yards and four touchdowns. For a player already carrying major Heisman buzz, that’s the kind of afternoon that grabs the spotlight and doesn’t let go. It was easily the best game of his Ohio State career.
He had already been piling up production before Saturday, eclipsing 80 receiving yards in each of his first four games. But this one blew past the rest. Smith entered the day with 21 receptions, 400 yards and three touchdowns through three weeks, and by the time the Buckeyes were done with Illinois, he had lapped some of those totals and come close to matching others.
All three of those numbers were career highs.
The touchdown total also carried historical weight. With his fourth score, Smith tied Ohio State’s all-time receiving touchdown record in a game.
Ohio State still has a lot in front of it - eight games left, including five against current top-20 opponents. Three of those are on the road, so the road ahead is hardly soft. But if the Buckeyes are going to make another run, Smith looks ready to be at the center of it again.
That’s been the pattern before. He played a major role in Ohio State’s 2024 national title run as a freshman, and the Buckeyes are now chasing a second College Football Playoff title in three years.
Whether Saturday was the Heisman moment or just the latest step toward one, Smith made the kind of statement that changes how the rest of the season gets talked about.
In Other News...
Ohio State Freshman Legend Bey May Have A Bigger Problem Than Playing Time
Legend Beys first season at Ohio State has already been shaped by interruption, and not just because of the usual freshman learning curve. After an earlier suspension and an ankle injury, the running back has been working from behind for playing time, and his role has stayed limited as the Buckeyes have moved through the season. Even in areas where young players can sometimes find a foothold, his path has been narrow.
The latest sign came against Illinois, when Bey did not play and another player handled his kick-return work instead. For a freshman trying to earn more than a spot in the rotation, that kind of move can say plenty about where he stands with the staff. If the concerns run deeper than health or depth-chart traffic, it could become a bigger issue for Bey as he looks to settle his future in Columbus. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio States Future Talent Pipeline Is Starting To Look Different
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The next wave looks just as promising, if a little different in how it is forming. Ohio State has five commitments in the 2028 class, four of them top 100 prospects, led by quarterback Christopher Vargas at No. 4 nationally, and even the 2029 class already has a foothold with wide receiver Austin Miller, ranked No. 50. For a program that has long built its roster on blue-chip talent, the real question is how this early momentum will translate when the class rankings and the pressure both start to rise. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Has A Growing Running Back Problem Behind Ja'Kobi Jackson
Ohio State got the win over Illinois in Week 4, but the running back room left Ryan Day with a lot to sort through. The group finished with 122 rushing yards, and Ja'Kobi Jackson accounted for the best of it with 56 yards and a touchdown, giving the Buckeyes a steadier presence than they got from the rest of the rotation.
What followed was more revealing than the box score. Day publicly singled out sophomores Bo Jackson and Isaiah West, questioning their effort when compared with Ja'Kobi Jackson, and the backdrop here is not just one uneven afternoon but a position group dealing with injuries and inconsistent play. For Ohio State, the bigger concern is whether there is a reliable answer behind Ja'Kobi Jackson, because right now the depth chart looks far less settled than a contender would prefer. [Read more 🡒]