Are Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate the two best wide receivers in college football? Carnell Tate didn’t hesitate when he was asked that question following Ohio State’s win over Minnesota.
“I know that, for sure,” Tate replied.
Smith was already well-established as college football’s best wide receiver before the 2025 season began. His spectacular freshman season, in which he caught 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns, made him a national superstar. He’s backed up his elite status through Ohio State’s first five games of the season as he’s caught 35 passes for 463 yards and six touchdowns (while also running for a touchdown).
What’s become clear in Ohio State’s first five games of the season is the Buckeyes also have a second superstar in their receiving corps.
Tate was productive in his first season as a starter in 2024, catching 52 passes for 733 yards and four touchdowns, but he was largely overshadowed by the tandem of Smith and Emeka Egbuka. Now that Egbuka is tearing up the NFL as Ohio State’s latest first-round pick at the position, Tate is showing just how elite he also is.
Already looking the part of Ohio State’s next first-round wide receiver with 15 catches for 252 yards and four touchdowns in Ohio State’s first four games, Tate took his game to another level against the Golden Gophers, catching nine passes for 183 yards – both career-highs – including a 44-yard touchdown catch on a Julian Sayin deep ball.
44 YARDS TO @carnelltate_ TOUCHDOWN @OhioStateFB
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 5, 2025
NBC pic.twitter.com/Tiqwczz9Or
Tate’s 183 receiving yards were the 16th-most in a single game in Ohio State history. 163 of those yards came in the first half – the most in a first half by a Big Ten player this season and the most first-half yards for an Ohio State player since Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 186 first-half receiving yards on his way to a record-setting 347-yard game in the 2022 Rose Bowl.
What a half by Carnell Tate @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/ExrVKHsb7l
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 5, 2025
Minnesota tried the bold strategy of playing man coverage against Ohio State’s wide receivers, and Tate seized the opportunity to feast.
“We were shocked that they came out in man,” Tate said. “They tried us in man, and we made them pay for it.”
As good as Tate and Smith both are, however, Minnesota knew shutting them and the rest of Ohio State’s offense down would be a challenge no matter what style of defense it played.
“We got dominated on the line of scrimmage. They're really big, really powerful, and then they force you to put more people in the box and they throw it over the top with two first-round draft picks. I mean, you're picking your poison,” Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said after the game.
A smooth route runner with excellent speed and strong hands, Tate has actually surpassed Smith as Ohio State’s top deep threat so far this season with six catches of 30-plus yards through five games.
Sayin with a DOT to Carnell Tate @OhioStateFB
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) October 5, 2025
: NBC pic.twitter.com/sSzAO5J1KL
He’s also shown spectacular body control and the ability to make high-degree-of-difficulty catches on a weekly basis, such as his 16-yard catch along the sideline early in the second half against Minnesota.
It helps, of course, that Tate has Smith opposite him to give him more favorable coverage matchups – but that goes both ways.
“We’re always pushing each other to make the better play. We’re always pushing each other to get each other open. If JJ doesn’t do his job, I can’t get open. If I don’t do my job, JJ can’t get open,” Tate said of him and Smith.
There are numerous receivers around the country with a claim to being college football’s second-best wideout after Smith – Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson, USC’s Makai Lemon and Alabama’s Ryan Williams are among the others in that conversation, to name a few. But Tate merely being in that conversation alongside Smith gives Ohio State the nation’s top duo of wide receivers.
Pair them with the super-accurate Sayin – who’s now completed 80.2% of his passing attempts for 10.4 yards per attempt through five games – and a dynamic tight end in Max Klare, who also had his best game as a Buckeye so far against Minnesota (five catches for 63 yards), and Ohio State’s passing attack looks like the best in the country.
“You're seeing every week Julian play with more and more confidence,” Day said after the game, in which Sayin completed 23 of 27 passing attempts for 326 yards and three touchdowns. “And I can't say enough about Carnell Tate, Jeremiah Smith, Brandon Inniss, Max Klare … I don't think it's even close that Jeremiah Smith is the best offensive player in college football. … And now you're seeing Carnell take the next step. … I thought Max played better, made some better blocks, and made some plays downfield, so he's really coming into his own.”
Ohio State has had multiple future first-round picks at the wide receiver position in every season since Day became the Buckeyes’ head coach in 2019, and it sure looks like they do again with Tate and Smith. Provided Tate is a first-round pick as he becomes draft-eligible next year and Smith is the top pick he’s clearly destined to be in 2027, they’ll extend Ohio State’s streak of first-round wide receivers to at least six years, following Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson in 2022, Jaxon Smith-Njigba in 2023, Marvin Harrison Jr. in 2024 and Egbuka last year.
For now, though, Smith and Tate are two of the biggest reasons why Ohio State looks like a national championship contender once again. While the Buckeyes’ deep passing game faced some questions going into Saturday’s game after the Buckeyes didn’t throw it deep at all in their previous game against Washington, the collective performances of Tate and Smith (who had seven catches for 67 yards and two scores) against Minnesota showed just how tough Ohio State’s dynamic duo of receivers is to stop – not just because of how good each of them is individually, but how they make one another better.
