Jeremiah Smith Breaks Big Ten Career Receiving Touchdown Record

Forty touchdown catches now sit next to Jeremiah Smith’s name, more than any receiver in Big Ten history. The Ohio State star caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Luke Fahey in Saturday’s 30-18 loss at USC, passing former Michigan receiver Braylon Edwards, who had held the record with 39 since 2004. Edwards won the Biletnikoff Award that season and went third overall in the 2005 NFL Draft.

The catch cut USC’S lead to 27-18, and the Buckeyes never got closer after a failed two-point try and a recovered onside kick. Smith finished with 10 catches for 83 yards on a rainy night at the Coliseum, with Fahey making his first college start in place of injured quarterback Julian Sayin.

Smith reached 40 in his 37th college game. He has 13 touchdown catches through eight games this season, one more than he had in 13 games last year.

Jeremiah Smith kept producing in a tough spot

The Buckeyes have been without Sayin since he hurt his throwing arm at Indiana, and Ohio State coach Ryan Day said the Buckeyes plan to play without him for the rest of the season. Fahey completed 21 of 38 passes for 260 yards in his debut, and Ohio State settled for three field goals on its first five drives.

“It’s extremely frustrating coming into a game like this with a young quarterback and not [to] play cleaner than we did,” Day said after the game. “I think for Luke, he competed. It wasn’t perfect.”

Day put the loss on the group around Fahey rather than on the freshman himself, and Smith carried a big part of the load from the first series on.

Smith did most of his work close to the line. He averaged 8.3 yards on his 10 catches, less than half of the 18.9 yards per catch he carried into the game, as Ohio State tried to get the ball to its best player quickly and keep the freshman out of trouble.

USC hit the big plays Ohio State could not. Freshman receiver Trent Mosley scored on a 69-yard screen on the Trojans’ second snap, tight end Mark Bowman broke loose for a 70-yard catch, and USC led 27-9 after three quarters in the biggest win of USC coach Lincoln Riley’s tenure.

“That’s two of the best teams in the country on the field right there,” Riley said after the game.

The loss dropped Ohio State to 6-2 and 4-1 in the Big Ten, and the Buckeyes fell to No. 4 in the latest Big Ten power rankings, one spot behind USC, with Oregon coming to Columbus next Saturday. As for Smith, he now has 62 catches for 1,067 yards this season, which gives him his third straight 1,000-yard year.

The Big Ten’s all-time touchdown catch leaders

Smith now sits alone at the top of a list that includes Michigan’s Anthony Carter, Indiana’s James Hardy and Ohio State standouts Chris Olave and David Boston.

• Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State (2024-present), 40
• Braylon Edwards, Michigan (2001-04), 39
• Anthony Carter, Michigan (1979-82), 37
• James Hardy, Indiana (2005-07), 36
• Chis Olave, Ohio State (2018-21), 35
• David Boston, Ohio State (1996-98), 34
• Dequese Carter, Indiana (2019-23), 34
• Tyler Johnson, Minnesota (2016-19), 33

Three of the top eight played at Ohio State, and Jeremiah Smith passed Olave, Boston, and Harrison Jr. on the way to the school record, which he broke in a road win at Iowa in October. Along the way, he also took the Ohio State career receptions record from Emeka Egbuka, who finished with 205, and passed Michael Jenkins’ 2,898 receiving yards in a Week 3 win over Kent State.

Smith arrived as the top overall player in the 2024 recruiting class and led Ohio State’s national title team as a true freshman with 76 catches for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns, both Ohio State freshman records. He followed that with 87 catches for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, and he now has 225 career catches for 3,625 yards.

Smith entered the weekend at No.1 in the latest Heisman power rankings, and the numbers keep him at the center of the debate over where he ranks among the best receivers the sport has seen. Edwards needed four seasons at Michigan to reach 39 touchdown catches. Smith passed him four regular-season games still left in his junior year.