COLUMBUS — Ohio State opened Big Ten play with a 42-19 victory over Illinois on Saturday, and while the Buckeyes had plenty to feel good about, one player made it almost impossible to spread the attention around.
Jeremiah Smith caught 12 passes for a career-high 217 yards and four touchdowns, producing one of the most dominant receiving performances in program history. By the end of the afternoon, he had broken another milestone, tied another record and turned one unfortunate Illinois defender into part of the highlight reel.
Let’s take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly from Ohio State’s victory over Illinois.
The Good: Jeremiah Smith
There are dominant performances, and then there is what Jeremiah Smith did to Illinois.
Smith finished with the kind of stat line really good receivers need a few games to put together. He scored from 7, 72, 9 and 15 yards while repeatedly giving Julian Sayin an answer whenever Ohio State wanted to attack through the air.
And at this point, it's becoming increasingly difficult to be creative enough to not sound repetitive as a scribe when talking about Ohio State’s Heisman hopeful.
Ohio State has had no shortage of great receivers, but even by that standard, he was ridiculous today. Smith was the best player on the field Saturday, and Illinois could do nothing to stop him.
The Bad: Jeremiah Smith
As in Jeremiah Smith is a bad man.
At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Smith has the kind of combination of size, speed and strength that makes defending him nearly impossible. Corners can be in good position and still lose. Safeties can arrive on time and still fail to dislodge a contested catch.
And now the records are beginning to fall.
Smith broke Michael Jenkins’ Ohio State career receiving-yardage record last week against Kent State, then became the first wide receiver in program history to surpass 3,000 career receiving yards Saturday against Illinois. He now sits at 3,175 yards.
His four touchdown receptions also tied Ohio State’s single-game record, giving him another line in the record book during a season that is starting to feel like a weekly rewrite of one.
That has become the routine with Smith. Every Saturday seems to bring another milestone, another broken record or another reminder that Ohio State has never had a receiver quite like him.
The Ugly: Mac Resetich Trying to Tackle Jeremiah Smith
This one requires at least a little sympathy for Illinois safety Mac Resetich.
Smith got behind him early in the first quarter and hauled in a deep pass from Sayin around the Illinois 27-yard line. At that point, Resetich still had a chance to keep the play from becoming a touchdown.
Then things went poorly.
Smith reached roughly the 19-yard line, changed direction and sent Resetich the wrong way. Resetich tried to recover, Smith changed direction again and left the Illinois safety searching the turf for whatever dignity remained.
There are missed tackles, there are broken tackles and then there are plays that become permanent pieces of somebody else’s highlight reel. Unfortunately for Resetich, this was the latter.
