Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith broke the Big Ten’s career receiving yards record on Saturday, Nov. 14, passing the 3,788 yards Purdue’s John Standeford piled up from 2000 to 2003, The Columbus Dispatch reported in its live coverage of the Buckeyes’ game against Northwestern at Ohio Stadium. Smith set the new mark on a catch in the first half, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Smith came into the game needing just 31 yards to pass Standeford, and the outcome was never really in doubt: he had recorded at least 68 receiving yards in every game this season, with his low of the year coming against Indiana on Oct. 17, The Columbus Dispatch reported. The record-breaking catch came at 12:47 p.m., less than an hour after the noon kickoff, according to The Dispatch’s live blog.
The record is the latest line on a resume that was already rewriting the conference book. Smith already has more touchdown catches than any receiver in league history, The Columbus Dispatch reported, and Ohio State has launched a campaign promoting his candidacy for the Heisman Trophy. He entered Saturday leading the Buckeyes with 1,200 receiving yards this season, ahead of quarterback Julian Sayin’s 2,007 passing yards and running back Bo Jackson’s 685 rushing yards on the team’s stat sheet, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Standeford’s mark had stood for more than two decades. He set the 3,788-yard standard across four seasons at Purdue at the turn of the century, from 2000 to 2003, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Smith passed it as a junior, in a game Ohio State badly needed for reasons that had nothing to do with records.
The Buckeyes came into Saturday 6-3 and on a two-game losing streak, having fallen 30-18 to USC and then 41-28 to Oregon at home on Nov. 7. The slide dropped Ohio State to No. 20 in the Coaches Poll and No. 21 in the Associated Press poll, its lowest AP position since 2014, and to No. 20 in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings — the lowest the program has ever been ranked in the CFP standings, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Smith set the record with a freshman throwing to him. Starting quarterback Julian Sayin is injured, and freshman Luke Fahey made his third straight start on Saturday, head coach Ryan Day announced on Tuesday, Nov. 10, The Columbus Dispatch reported. "Luke [Fahey] is going to be our quarterback this week, and Tavien [St. Clair] is one snap away," Day said, in comments The Columbus Dispatch reported. Fahey was elevated after Sayin was hurt in Ohio State’s 19-15 win over Indiana, and there is no timeline for Sayin’s return, The Dispatch reported.
Northwestern, also 6-3 and also playing a backup quarterback — Nicco Marchiol, with Aidan Chiles hurt — scored first on Saturday, converting three third downs before Ohio State’s defense stiffened and Will Smith’s sack forced a 44-yard field goal, The Columbus Dispatch reported. The Wildcats led 3-0 after the first quarter, in which Fahey threw an interception and Ohio State outgained Northwestern 94 yards to 57, according to The Dispatch’s first-quarter statistics. The game was still in progress as this story was published, and no final result is reported here.
The record chase had been building all week. NewsForce247’s own preview of the game, Ohio State hosting Northwestern at noon needing a win to stop its two-game skid, framed Saturday as a get-right game for a team whose defense has surrendered 35.5 points per game during the skid after allowing just 13.4 over the first seven games, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Defensive coordinator Matt Patricia addressed the big plays his unit has given up: "The explosives are something that we’ve got to eliminate," Patricia said, in comments The Columbus Dispatch reported.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on: Smith’s record is confirmed — 3,788 yards was the old mark, he needed 31, and The Columbus Dispatch reported the record broken on a first-half catch. What is not yet known as this story publishes is the game’s final score, Smith’s final yardage total for the day, and how far past Standeford he will push the record before the season ends. Ohio State’s injury picture at quarterback also remains open, with no timeline announced for Sayin’s return.
The receiving room’s production has been a season-long story in Columbus, on the field and off it — the Buckeyes’ wideouts also drew attention this fall when, as NewsForce247 reported, Ohio State’s women’s volleyball team leaned on its own star hitter in a career-high night against Wisconsin. Smith’s record, though, stands alone in the conference’s history books.
What happens next: Ohio State finishes Saturday’s game against Northwestern with its playoff hopes on the line, and Smith’s Heisman campaign now carries a conference career record with it. Every catch he makes from here adds to a mark that stood untouched for more than 20 years — and that he reached with regular-season games still to play.