Sep 21, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) goes for the ball with Marshall Thundering Herd defensive back Josh Moten (1) during the first quarter at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images Columbus, Ohio, is the official location of Wide Receiver U., but Pasadena, California, is where Ohio State pass-catching legends have made some of their biggest impacts. Jeremiah Smith added his name to the list.
It’s a list that prominently features fellow Buckeyes Cris Carter, David Boston, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Smith’s performance in a 41-21 Rose Bowl Game rematch against Oregon had shades of all three of these Ohio State wide receivers.
Like Boston in the 1997 Rose Bowl, Smith scored a pair of touchdowns that were instrumental in denying a previously undefeated West Coast counterpart its national championship dreams.
Now, Boston’s second touchdown against Arizona State at the conclusion of the 1996 season came with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter; Smith’s first and most pivotal touchdown came just 60 seconds into the Granddaddy of ‘Em All’s 2025 installment.
However, that 45-yard reception from Will Howard set the tone for the most impressive win of the College Football Playoff thus far.
Another scoring grab of 43 yards early in the second quarter put an exclamation point on Smith’s sensational day and effectively buried the Ducks. With Ohio State building a 24-0 lead on the second of Smith’s touchdown grabs, then extending that advantage to 34-0, the freshman phenom’s contributions were not needed much in the second half.
Had the 112th Rose Bowl Game played out more like the 109th, when Ohio State and Utah went to the wire in a 48-45 shootout, perhaps Jeremiah Smith would have seen a workload on par with Smith-Njigba’s Granddaddy record-setting 347 yards on 15 receptions.
As it stood on Wednesday, though, Smith left Pasadena setting a different Rose Bowl record: His 187 yards on seven catches set the game’s record for a freshman.
The previous holder was another Buckeye, naturally. Cris Carter went for 172 yards in 1985.
With the record, Carter also gave Smith a meaningful endorsement on social media, posting: “Best WR in college football wears #4.”
And with No. 4 playing his best football at the end of what has been a remarkable freshman season, No. 8 in the Playoff bracket looks like the best team in college football.
In Playoff wins over Tennessee and Oregon, the Buckeyes romped by an average of 22.5 points per game. Smith cleared 100 yards in both and scored four of his 14 touchdowns on the season in the postseason wins.
Never mind etching his name into Ohio State’s illustrious Rose Bowl Game history: Smith is fast becoming one of the most noteworthy contributors in the annals of Buckeyes national championship history, a legacy that has seen just eight teams claiming crowns in program history.
While the parallels to be drawn between Smith and those predecessors like Boston, Carter, or Smith-Njigba are undeniable, the current Buckeye is creating his own legacy. Ohio State coach Ryan Day explained after the rout of Oregon:
“Whether it’s players or coaches, it’s easy for everyone to… not quite put him in a box, but sort of categorize them based on somebody who has come before,” Day said. “Jeremiah is his own person. And I think the way that he’s come in from the get-go, he had a look in his eye that he wanted to make an impact as a freshman.”
It’s fair to say Smith has more than made an impact and has instead set a standard. Whether it’s in three years like Smith-Njigba’s record-setting day vs. Utah, almost 30 years like Boston’s heroics vs. Arizona State, or 40 years when another Ohio State freshman perhaps set the Rose Bowl receiving mark, Jeremiah Smith’s name will be invoked among the all-time Buckeyes greats.
