Jeremiah Smith is heading into his final season with the Buckeyes. No amount of hope or NIL will be able to outweigh being the likely first non-quarterback taken in the 2027 NFL Draft. As a result, he only has 12 guaranteed opportunities to secure the Ohio State career receiving records. Of course, the opportunity to play as many as 17 games means he has a fantastic chance to own the career receptions, yards, and touchdowns marks, finally cementing his place as the greatest Ohio State receiver in history.
Hopefully he’s able to win the Biletnikoff Award this year after coming up short last year. Adding that in would be icing on the cake since other receivers mentioned in the GOAT conversation have one. With a tougher schedule this year, could Smith have to wait a little longer to break the records? Or will he lead the Big Ten in receiving yards for the third season in a row, lead the way in touchdowns a second time, and obliterate the Ohio State career receiving records?
Let’s take a look at how far he is from owning each record, his averages, and when we think he will break each one, from fewest games to most.
When Will Jeremiah Smith Break The Ohio State Career Receiving Records?
Yards
Number needed to own the record: 341
The most likely record to fall first has to be the yardage mark set by Michael Jenkins in 2003 (2,848 yards). Smith’s former teammate, Emeka Egbuka, came up just short in 2024. Egbuka entered the 2024 season needing 890 yards. Smith only needs 341.
To this point in his career, Smith has averaged 88.21 yards per game, with 11 100-yard games. In his first game as a Buckeye, he finished with 92 yards and two touchdowns on just six receptions. When it comes to those 100-yard games, three came in the College Football Playoff, one was in the Big Ten Championship Game, three were regular-season non-conference games, and four were in the Big Ten. Oddly enough, three of Ohio State’s four losses over the last two seasons came with a big game from Smith.
To kick off the year, Ohio State faces Ball State, Texas, and Kent State before kicking off Big Ten play. Texas is going to have a stout secondary again, and the Longhorns have had great game plans for Smith in the two matchups. In total, the phenom was held to seven catches for 46 yards and no touchdowns, and the overwhelming majority of that was in Week 1 of last year.
With 341 yards to go, with a career average of 88.21 yards per game, it would mathematically put the target on Week 4’s matchup against Illinois (3.85 games). On one hand, he could be held in check against Texas. On the other hand, Ball State and Kent State. Of the Ohio State career receiving records, the yards mark should fall first.
Prediction: Week 3 vs. Kent State
Receptions
Number needed to own the record: 43
A difficult stat to predict, receptions tend to be at the whim of the quarterback and the offensive coordinator. Last year, Smith led the Big Ten with 87 receptions, but he had 36 more than the next (Carnell Tate). Currently, the Ohio State career record is held by Egbuka. He broke the record in the National Championship Game against Notre Dame and sits atop the leaderboard with 205.
Will the Buckeyes run a slower-tempo offense again this year? Will they run the “just give your best player the ball” play more often?
Thus far in his 29-game career, Smith has double-digit receptions just once (2025 at Purdue). Of course, there were other first-round receivers who needed the ball. This year, Smith may have to carry the offense until Arthur Smith knows what he has in Chris Henry Jr., Kyle Parker, Devin McCuin, etc.
As it stands, he needs 43 receptions to own the record. He is going into 2026 averaging 5.62 catches per game, so that would likely put the target in the Week 9 game at USC. With Texas and Indiana on the schedule in the first seven weeks, Smith will likely have at least two four-quarter games.
Prediction: Week 7 at Indiana
Touchdowns
Number needed to own the record: 9
Finally, the one everyone is looking forward to. As a first-year player in 2024, Smith burst out of the gate with eight touchdowns in his first seven games. The current record-holder is Chris Olave. A receiver who will live forever in Ohio State lore for his performances against Michigan, Olave broke the record in 2021 after scoring his second touchdown of the first quarter in the win against Michigan State. David Boston held the record for over two decades, and Olave one-upped him with 35.
It took Olave four seasons to set the record. It’s going to take Smith fewer than three. In his 29 games, Smith has scored 27 touchdowns. He’s been held out of the end zone eight times (though not for a lack of trying; he has at least 97 yards in three of those games). On the flip side, Smith has six games with two touchdowns, and two of those came in that CFP run in 2024.
Heading into 2026, Smith averages 0.93 touchdowns per game, which would mean he needs 9.68 games to break the record. That would place the target on the Week 11 matchup at home against Northwestern. If we think Texas, Indiana, USC, and Oregon are supposed to be CFP-worthy (or close, in USC’s case), Smith will have to play the whole game, rather than resting in the fourth as he will in those matchups against the MAC teams. He will have more opportunities to own the record early.
Prediction: Week 10 vs. Oregon
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