Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith | 12 receptions, 217 yards, 4 touchdowns
Illinois knew Jeremiah Smith was the player it had to stop. Knowing and doing were two very different things.
Smith caught all four of Julian Sayin’s touchdown passes in Ohio State’s 42-19 win, finishing with a career-high 12 receptions and 217 yards. His four touchdown catches tied the Buckeyes’ single-game record. In a Week 4 field that included a record-setting pass rusher, a six-touchdown quarterback and a linebacker with two pick-sixes, Smith earned Sportsvival’s Impact HVAC Player of the Week.
Smith’s path to this moment
Smith arrived in Columbus from Chaminade-Madonna Prep in Florida with enormous expectations. Over his final two high school seasons, he caught 151 passes for 2,474 yards and 39 touchdowns. He was one of the nation’s most prized recruits, but Ohio State did not have to wait for him to develop into a star.
As a freshman in 2024, Smith posted 76 catches for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns, breaking Ohio State’s freshman receiving records. He followed with 87 catches for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2025 and earned unanimous All-American honors. His 2,558 yards and 27 receiving touchdowns across those two seasons were Big Ten records for a receiver’s first two college years.
Saturday added another milestone: Smith became the first Ohio State player to surpass 3,000 career receiving yards. The Illinois game was his 14th career performance with at least 100 receiving yards, putting him one behind Marvin Harrison Jr. on Ohio State’s list.
What NFL teams are seeing
Smith has the size to win contested catches, the speed to threaten a defense deep and the body control to finish plays near the sideline. At 6-foot-4 and 222 pounds, he presents a difficult matchup before the ball is snapped. Against Illinois, his production showed what happens after it is snapped: Ohio State kept going to him, and he kept delivering.
Smith may be the best wide receiver to come out in the NFL Draft in quite a while. That is Sportsvival’s projection, and it rests on more than one spectacular Saturday. He has produced two 1,000-yard seasons, excelled against major competition and now owns a four-touchdown game in his junior year. The rest of 2026 will help determine where he belongs among the great receiver prospects, but his case is already powerful.
Week 4 runners-up
1. Colin Simmons, EDGE, Texas: 5.5 sacks
Texas needed every bit of its defense in a 20-17 win at Tennessee, and Simmons delivered a performance for the school record book. Initially credited with five sacks, he gained another half-sack after an official stat correction and became the Longhorns’ outright single-game sack record holder. On many weeks, 5.5 sacks would win this award.
2. Wayshawn Parker, RB, Utah: 18 carries, 174 yards, 2 rushing TD; 5 receptions, 65 yards, 1 receiving TD
Parker produced 239 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns in Utah’s 31-17 road win over Iowa State. He scored on the ground from 54 yards out and gave the Utes a receiving threat out of the backfield, making this one of Week 4’s best all-around offensive performances.
3. Mason Heintschel, QB, Pitt: 29-of-37, 403 yards, 6 TD, 0 INT; 33 rushing yards
Heintschel threw five touchdown passes before halftime in Pitt’s 59-0 win over Bucknell, then added a sixth in the third quarter. It was his second game with at least six passing touchdowns this season, an ACC first. Smith was the winner, but the Pittsburgh quarterback belongs prominently among the honorees.
4. Austin Romaine, LB, Texas Tech: 8 tackles, 2 INT, 2 defensive TD
Two interceptions returned for touchdowns would be a remarkable game on their own. Romaine produced them on consecutive snaps in Texas Tech’s 49-14 win over Sam Houston. Few defenders changed a score as quickly as he did in Week 4.
5. Julian Sayin, QB, Ohio State: 27-of-36, 367 yards, 4 passing TD, 0 INT; 1 rushing TD
Smith needed someone to put the ball in his hands, and Sayin did it repeatedly. He threw all four of his passing touchdowns to Smith and added a score on the ground, finishing with five total touchdowns in the win over Illinois.
The Week 4 winner
This was a deep field. Simmons broke a Texas record. Parker scored three ways across the running and passing games. Heintschel threw six touchdowns, Romaine scored twice on defense, and Sayin accounted for five scores.
Jeremiah Smith stood above them with 12 catches, 217 yards and four touchdowns. Congratulations to Ohio State’s star receiver, Sportsvival’s Week 4 Impact HVAC Player of the Week.
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