USC Receiver Makai Lemon Wins Biletnikoff Award Over Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith

USC wide receiver Makai Lemon was named Friday night as the 2025 recipient of the Biletnikoff Award, which honors college football’s best receiver.

Congratulations to Makai Lemon @getabagkai, winner of the prestigious Biletnikoff Award! The Biletnikoff Award annually recognizes the college football season's outstanding FBS receiver at any position. @uscfb @USC_Athletics #OutstandingReceiver #NCFAA pic.twitter.com/ygMlP7chFh

— Biletnikoff Award (@biletnikoffawrd) December 13, 2025

Lemon wins the award after catching 79 passes for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns in 12 games this season. Smith, by comparison, has 80 receptions for 1,086 yards and 11 touchdowns in 12 games this season.

Smith was previously named the Big Ten Receiver of the Year over Lemon. But the Biletnikoff’s national panel of voters decided the USC wideout was college football’s best receiver this season.

Smith’s snub from the award harks back to 2022, when Marvin Harrison Jr. was widely considered to be college football’s top receiver but was beat out for the Biletnikoff Award by Tennessee wideout Jalin Hyatt. Harrison was famously pictured catching passes from the Monarc machine at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center later that night, and he admitted later that he felt snubbed by not winning the award, telling reporters the following week that he felt he “deserved to win.” Harrison went on to win the Biletnikoff Award in 2023.

Like Harrison in 2022, Smith is just a sophomore, so he’ll have another chance to win the Biletnikoff in 2026. In the meantime, this year’s Biletnikoff snub will serve as added motivation for Smith to prove he’s the nation’s best receiver in the College Football Playoff, starting Dec. 31 when Ohio State plays either Miami or Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.

pic.twitter.com/kWPcf5wp4R

— Jeremiah Smith (@Jermiah_Smith1) December 13, 2025