Jeremiah Smith had a monster game in Week 4 for the Ohio State Buckeyes, opening Big Ten play at home against Illinois with a career day. 

Smith hauled in 12 catches for 217 receiving yards and four touchdowns in Ohio State’s 42-19 win. The Buckeyes’ passing attack was firing on all cylinders, led by quarterback Julian Sayin, who completed 27-of-36 passes for 367 yards.

Jeremiah Smith is on pace for a historic season, Illinois HC Bret Bielema had a strong comment 

Through four games, Smith is averaging 154.3 receiving yards per game and already has seven touchdowns on the season. That’s nearly two touchdowns per game. Worth noting, too, is that Smith played just one half against Ball State in the opener and didn’t play a full game against Kent State in Week 3. Those numbers could look even more absurd if he’d been out there for full games in each contest to this point. 

Following what Smith did to the Illini, Illinois head coach Brett Bielema had to get honest about the Ohio State star.

“He creates a unique matchup issue,” Bielema said. “Even when I was in the SEC, and when I was in the NFL, you just see these guys that are a different type of player. He just continues to play extremely big. He’s very physical and obviously very dominant after the catch as well.”

Smith’s biggest play of the day was a 72-yard touchdown where he did damage after the catch, making a couple of defenders miss and look silly on his way to the end zone. It was the kind of play that backed up every word Bielema said about Smith’s ability in the open field.

Smith’s receiving yards season high at Ohio State is 1,315, set during his freshman campaign. He’s on pace to shatter that record with ease. As it currently stands, Smith is tracking toward clearing 1,800 receiving yards in a 12-game regular season. If all bodes well for Ohio State this year, they’ll be playing a lot more than 12 games.

Smith has been everything the Buckeyes hoped he could be, and then some. He’s one of the best players in Ohio State history, already on the Mount Rushmore of players to come out of Columbus. There are just four more guaranteed home games for Ohio State fans to see him play in The Shoe this season.

Sometimes it’s hard to put into words what Smith does because he goes out every game and makes it look routine. He leaves opposing coaches with nothing to say except what Bielema offered after Ohio State beat Illinois by a wide margin.