Jeremiah Smith Makes Ohio State History, Becomes Buckeyes’ All-Time Receiving Yards Leader

Jeremiah Smith has spent his Ohio State career rewriting the record books. Now, just three games into his junior season, the superstar wide receiver owns one of the biggest records of them all.

Smith became Ohio State’s all-time leader in career receiving yards during the Buckeyes’ 59-3 victory over Kent State on Saturday, surpassing former Ohio State receiver Michael Jenkins’ previous record of 2,898 yards.

He finished the game with five receptions for 85 yards, bringing his career total to 2,958 receiving yards. Even more impressive is how quickly Smith reached the milestone. The junior has needed only 33 games to establish himself as the most productive receiver by yardage in the history of a program known for producing NFL-caliber wideouts.

Smith arrived in Columbus in 2024 as one of the most highly anticipated recruits in the country and immediately lived up to the hype. As a true freshman, he caught 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns while helping lead Ohio State to a national championship. His postseason included an unforgettable Rose Bowl performance against Oregon, where he recorded 187 receiving yards and earned Rose Bowl Offensive MVP honors.

There was no sophomore slump, either.

Smith followed his historic freshman campaign with 87 receptions for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2025. His 87 catches ranked third in Ohio State single-season history, while his performance earned him unanimous All-American honors and his second consecutive Big Ten Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year award. Through his first two collegiate seasons, Smith accumulated 2,558 receiving yards and 27 touchdowns — both Big Ten records for a receiver over his first two years.

Now a junior, Smith has continued adding to an already remarkable résumé. Through Ohio State’s first three games of 2026, he has 21 receptions for 400 yards and three touchdowns, pushing his career numbers to 184 receptions, 2,958 receiving yards and 30 receiving touchdowns.

And he might not be finished rewriting Ohio State history.

Smith currently ranks fourth in program history with 184 career receptions, only 21 behind Emeka Egbuka’s school record of 205. His 30 career receiving touchdowns also leave him five behind Chris Olave’s Ohio State record of 35.

From national champion as a freshman to unanimous All-American as a sophomore and Ohio State’s career receiving-yardage leader as a junior, Smith has packed an extraordinary amount of production into less than three full seasons.

Ohio State has produced a long list of elite receivers — Cris Carter, David Boston, Michael Jenkins, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka among them.

When it comes to receiving yards, however, Jeremiah Smith now stands above them all.