Be such a strong unit that even your head coach goes loss of words while praising you. That’s what is the case for Ryan Day’s Ohio State Buckeyes. They are known as the Wide Receiver University of college football. Following a beatdown of Illinois, Day’s praise game for the receivers oomphed up. Special credit goes obviously to Jeremiah Smith, who finished the game with five catches for 42 yards, including this sick route for a touchdown. However, the ones behind him have been equally good. That, in turn, serves as a huge respite for Day when it comes to Smith’s backup plan.

Looks like this neck-to-neck competition only pushes the wide receivers in the Buckeyes camp to push harder. While the spotlight is mostly on Smith, Carnell Tate, and Brandon Innis, Day dropped a hint on how Mylan Graham and Quincy Porter are seeking a bigger stage to showcase themselves. On October 15, Ohio State football reporter Dillon Davis shared a clip of Day’s latest presser. “Ryan Day on how close Mylan Graham and Quincy Porter are to seeing bigger roles in the Ohio State offense:” read the caption. 

“They’re there. They’re right there. Around the doorstep. And we need them. You know, Carnell and Jermiah, I mean, Jeremiah and Brandon, we need those guys to step up in a big way,” Day shared. “And so, Quincy did show up on special teams. Great signs. Got a really good job. Our hard turn force, I think this is something that we can build on there, and that’s a good sign. You know, Mylan has been practicing better, so we’d like to get them in the game when we can, because with even more heat, we’re going to need to step up as a team.” 

Time to take a look at the stats. Smith, so far this season, recorded 40 receptions for 505 yards. On the other hand, Tate stands at 28 receptions for 476 yards, while Innis is at 11 receptions for 87 yards. 

Smith had already raised a warning for the rivals to keep a safe distance not just from him, but two of his mates as well. “Last week showed that we got another dominant receiver on the other side of the field. So, I mean, you can’t just worry about me now. You got to worry about Carnell Tate, you got to worry about Brandon Inniss, you got to worry about Max Klare, you got to worry about the tight end,” the Heisman runner dropped a bomb. On top of that, Day made things more scary for the others by counting on Porter and Graham, too. 

With Smith doing most of the task, Porter’s action has been limited this season as he has shown up with only one reception for 15 yards so far this season. The same goes for Graham, who has one reception for 23 yards. So, as Smith chases a long-standing Big Ten record, he can do that without worry, having the most talented mates around. 

Jeremiah Smith is chasing a Big Ten legacy

Smith is going full throttle on the 2025 track. He has strengthened his footing, coming up with 22 receiving touchdowns in 22 career games. So, he might already be catching signals in the Big Ten radar, eyeing to break a record. At present, Braylon Edwards sits at the top, holding a record of 39 receiving touchdowns during his career for That Team Up North.

A year after snagging 15 touchdowns, the Chaminade-Madonna product is pacing toward another season of the same elite production. Now, what about Smith’s chances of beating him in the race? If the Buckeyes receiver is close to 30 career touchdowns by the end of this season, his path might be clearer to surpass Edwards and wear the Big Ten career leader crown by the end of 2026. 

Yes, the NFL big leap in 2025 might be in Smith’s wishlist. However, he will not be draft-eligible until after his junior season in 2026. Having talented mates, it’s up to how healthy Smith stays, as the other receivers like Tate and Innis are always ready to pounce into the race. While he won’t be able to know the Big Ten results until 2026, Smith has some important goals this season.

That’s the Heisman. However, it’s not going too smoothly. After all, Smith is the odd one out in the race. As by now, we are all aware of the fact that the Heisman race always inclines towards the quarterbacks. Smith fell prey to it, being the wide receiver. 

On October 2, College Football Report came up with a tweet. It read, “UPDATED Heisman Odds, via @Kalshi: Dante Moore – 15% 🏆Ty Simpson – 11% Carson Beck – 9% Jeremiah Smith – 7% Fernando Mendoza – 6% Trinidad Chambliss – 5% John Mateer – 5% Julian Sayin – 5% Joey Aguilar – 4% Marcel Reed – 3% Jayden Maiava – 3% CJ Carr – 3% Arch Manning – 3%.” 13 players are running the race, and Jeremiah Smith is the only receiver. Let’s see if he gets to add some bronze shine to his shelf.