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Jeremiah Smith resorted to shameful stat-padding while Oregon dismantled Ohio State

ByNicholas Rome
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Nov 7, 2026; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) catches a pass as Oregon Ducks defensive back Koi Perich (3) makes the tackle during the first quarter at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
Nov 7, 2026; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) catches a pass as Oregon Ducks defensive back Koi Perich (3) makes the tackle during the first quarter at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Saturday gave Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks the biggest win of the season as his team went on the road to pick up a 41-28 victory in Columbus over the No. 12-ranked Buckeyes. Oregon sent the ultimate statement, scoring 38 straight points on the Buckeyes after Ryan Day's team raced out to a 14-0 lead.

One of the biggest reasons for Oregon's dominant run was the fact that the Ohio State offense couldn't get anything going on offense from the end of the 1st quarter until late in the 4th quarter. Everyone struggles to slow Jeremiah Smith as he's become a Heisman favorite, but Oregon did it until he decided to try to stat pad after getting locked up for most of the game.

Oregon locked up Jeremiah Smith until he turned to stat padding

Throughout the broadcast, all anyone could mention was that fact that from late in the 1st quarter until the 4th quarter, Jeremiah Smith hadn't caught a pass. Oregon's secondary locked the Heisman hopeful up for most of this game, and the biggest game-changer for the Buckeyes was left as a spectator to the dominance of the Ducks.

Jeremiah Smith was left throwing a temper tantrum late in the 3rd quarter, screaming at his sideline after Ify Obidegwu allowed him to catch a pass for at most a 1-yard gain, which marked his first grab since the 1st quarter.

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While Smith was frustrated with the lack of targets, and the way the game was playing out, he easily could've sparked the Buckeyes early, but he instead dropped a potential touchdown pass that he typically catches.

Oregon held Jeremiah Smith in check to grow the massive lead over the Buckeyes, and he finally decided to check into the matchup when the game entered garbage time. It looked like the Buckeyes were going to hold Smith out, but he appeared to come back in, making a clear effort to pad his stats.

With the Ducks playing backups, Jeremiah Smith finally made his impact on the game, scoring a touchdown on Aaron Scott Jr., who played just 7 snaps for the Ducks in an 84-0 win before this game. Smith taunted with a stepover on Scott, but like Dan Lanning did, Scott should've just pointed to the scoreboard, as it was too little, too late.

Fans who didn't watch this game are going to look at the box score and see that Jeremiah Smith caught 7 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown, and say it was another dominant performance from the best wide receiver in the sport. What the stats won't show is that Smith failed to make any impact as his team was spiraling and helped lead to what may be the loss that keeps the Buckeyes out of the College Football Playoff.

Coming into the game, one of the biggest keys for Oregon was to slow Jeremiah Smith, and keep him from making explosive plays. While Smith got to fill up the box score in garbage time, Oregon locked him up while the game hung in the balance, and left Ohio State's offense without a true game-changing threat.

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