Jeremiah Smith has been watching Malachi Toney, and Toney has been watching him right back with the kind of numbers that make every week feel like a showcase.
Toney flashed the Heisman pose three times on the Friday of Week 1 after scoring against Stanford. Smith answered the next day with his own Heisman pose after his second touchdown of the first half against Ball State.
Through the first three weeks of the 2026 season, Miami has already played twice on Friday and once on Thursday, while Ohio State has taken the field on Saturdays. So when Smith was asked whether he keeps up with football on Fridays, he didn’t hesitate.
"Always," Smith replied.
The South Florida connection is part of the story, too. Smith said he’s tracking Toney closely, and he framed it as a little rivalry between two receivers who are both considered among the best in college football.
"I can see it. Malachi is going off week in and week out.
A little friendly competition," Smith said. "I mean, I see him go off, so I'm trying to have a good game as well.
I mean, just both from Dade County, both from South Florida, so always trying to have a little competition here and there."
The two have been piling up absurd early-season totals. Toney has 28 catches for 444 yards and five touchdowns. Smith has 16 receptions for 315 yards and three scores.
Both have been taken out early, though Toney has stayed in a bit deeper when Miami has already put games away. And if you compare Miami’s first three games - Stanford, Florida A&M and Wake Forest - with Ohio State’s opening stretch against Ball State, Texas and Kent State, the Longhorns game stands out as the one that really matters when measuring Smith’s start. He went for eight catches, 164 yards and a touchdown in that one.
Still, Saturday wasn’t really about Toney. It was about Smith making Ohio State history.
With the catch that pushed him past Michael Jenkins’ previous record of 2,898 career receiving yards, Smith became the Buckeyes’ all-time leader in receiving yards. The moment landed with the kind of weight that comes with a milestone like that, but Smith’s postgame comments sounded more like a player who sees the record as one stop along the way.
"I'm blessed, man. I can't put it into words, because they always say you leave a jersey better than you found it, and that's what I'm trying to do," Smith said postgame.
"I'm always trying to push young guys to go, encourage them to get on my level. Guys on the team, even guys that's my age, that's probably older than me as well, I'm always trying to push them as well to be better, so that's what I'm here to do."
He’s already looking ahead to the next marks. Smith said he still has two more records in sight: Chris Olave’s touchdown record and Emeka Egbuka’s receptions record.
"I got two more to get - Chris Olave's touchdown record, and Emeka Egbuka's receptions (record,)" Smith said.
Smith is six touchdowns away from the touchdown mark and 22 receptions away from the catches record. The pace has been ridiculous since he arrived in Columbus, with those video-game numbers coming in just 33 games.
Ryan Day has coached a long line of first-round wide receivers - Olave, Egbuka, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson, Marvin Harrison Jr and Carnell Tate among them. After Saturday, Day made it plain where he thinks Smith fits in that group.
"It's hard to put anybody above him. It is.
It's hard. 33 games to break the all-time leading receiving record at Ohio State," Day said. "I think that speaks more than anything to him, his mindset, his discipline, what he does every day ...
He's somebody that shows up and loves to compete, loves the big moments, but it's because of how hard he trains, how serious he is. He loves his teammates, and I know his teammates appreciate who he is, and certainly we do as coaches.
And as fans, I think they do, but I hope they all recognize not only what you see on the field, but who he is as a person, and how much he loves Ohio State and this program."
Smith brought the record-breaking ball with him to his postgame media session, a keepsake from the pass that moved him into first place in the school record book.
He’s got more chasing to do, and the season is still young. But Saturday added another major line to a career that already looks built for the history books.
"Just leave a legacy," Smith said of what he's trying to prove. "I mean, that's been the biggest emphasis this season, this offseason, especially from Coach Day. Leave the jersey better than you found it, so that's exactly what I'm trying to do."
In Other News...
Ohio State Fans Have A New Fox Frustration After Another Blowout
Ohio States latest rout gave fans another chance to notice something besides the scoreboard, and it was Foxs broadcast that drew the heat this time. During the Buckeyes 59-3 win over Kent State, play-by-play voice Gus Johnson was criticized for sounding unusually flat on several big moments, an odd fit for a game that spent most of the afternoon as a one-sided showcase.
The reaction picked up after Chris Henry Jr.s touchdown catch, when Johnson described it as Henrys first score as a Buckeye. Fans also pointed to the same muted tone on other big plays, including Jamir Perezs fumble return touchdown and earlier Ohio State scores, continuing a pattern that has followed Johnson through previous Buckeyes blowouts. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State's Most Unexpected Touchdown Came From A Player Fans Didn't Expect
Ohio States defense got an unexpected jolt in its rout of Kent State, and it came from a player built more for clogging the middle than finding the end zone. Freshman defensive tackle Jamir Perez turned a fumble recovery into a touchdown in the 59-3 win, a rare scoring moment for a position group that usually measures success in tackles and quarterback pressure rather than points.
For a Buckeyes team that cruised through the afternoon, Perezs run to the end zone stood out as one of the games most memorable moments. Ryan Day even had a little fun afterward when the play and the celebration came up, a reminder that sometimes the biggest surprise of a lopsided game is the one nobody saw coming. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio States Backup Quarterback Battle Just Took An Unexpected Turn
Ohio States quarterback depth chart has started to reveal a little more than it did in September, and the backup job behind Julian Sayin suddenly looks like it has a lean. In the Buckeyes recent games, true freshman Luke Fahey has been the one getting more live work when the offense has gone to its reserves, and he has used those chances to lead multiple drives and show enough poise to get noticed.
Tavien St. Clair, the five-star sophomore who entered with plenty of buzz, has not gotten the same run, which is why the competition now feels like it has a clearer edge than it did a short time ago. Ryan Day has not addressed the race publicly, so there is still no official word on how the staff views it, but the on-field rotation has already started to tell its own story. [Read more 🡒]