Will Howard, Jeremiah Smith Earn Weekly Big Ten Honors
11/11/2024 1:43:00 PM | Football
Duo helped Ohio State defeat Purdue on Saturday, 45-0
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A pair of Ohio State Buckeyes were rewarded on Monday for their performances in Saturday's 45-0 win over Purdue. Will Howard and Jeremiah Smith have been named the Big Ten's Offensive Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week, respectively, the conference office announced today.
Howard, who earns the first Big Ten weekly award of his career, was 21 of 26 passing against the Boilermakers for 260 yards while accounting for four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing). He had scoring strikes of 15, 17 and 10 yards, respectively, while also adding a one-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter.
Through nine games, Howard is second nationally in completion percentage (74.0) and third in passing efficiency (182.48). He also has 22 touchdown passes – good for sixth best in the country. Over the last four games, he's thrown 10 touchdown passes against just two interceptions while completing nearly 78 percent of his passes.
Smith continued his record-breaking freshman season with a six-catch, 87-yard day on Saturday that included a 17-yard touchdown reception late in the second quarter to put Ohio State ahead 21-0. The TD catch was the ninth of the season for Smith, which gave him the Ohio State record for touchdown catches by a true freshman and broke the previous mark set 40 years ago by Cris Carter.
Smith has totaled 45 catches for a team-high 765 yards and 10 total touchdowns through nine games. His nine receiving TDs ranks No. 6 nationally and he's also in the top 25 in total receiving yards (24th) and receiving yards per game (21st).
The No. 2-ranked Buckeyes (8-1, 5-1 Big Ten) play their final regular season road game on Saturday when they head to Chicago to face Northwestern (4-5, 2-4 Big Ten) at Wrigley Field. Kickoff is set for noon ET with BTN broadcasting to a national audience.
