Jaxon Smith-Njigba put in the best receiving performance in college football history as No. 6 Ohio State made a late comeback to defeat Utah. Smith-Njigba had around 347 receiving yards, which were then added to three touchdowns, and at the end of it what could have been the game-winning score in an incredible throw-and-catch from C.J. Stroud with less than a few minutes from the whistle.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba Breaks Previous Record Held By Jason Rivers
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the game as the touchdown came after Cam Rising, the Quarterback for Utah had to leave the field after his head hit the turf after getting sacked. Rising had made an attempt to throw the ball away from the opponent team as he was swamped by the defenders of Ohio State and his body ended up being tensed up after his head hit the ground.
He was then replaced by QB Bryson Barnes- someone who had never thrown a pass in his entire college career. But that didn’t end up mattering much, as the offense of Ohio State, led by Jaxon Smith-Njigba had quite a lot of time.
Stroud managed to find Jaxon Smith-Njigba a couple of times more on the final drive of the Buckeyes and Noah Ruggles managed to kick a field goal from 19 yards to win. Smith-Njigba’s 347 yards on 15 catches have set up the record in the history of college football bowl games.
With this, he broke the previous record of 308 yards which was held by Jason Rivers of Hawaii during the 2006 Hawaii Bowl. Rivers had been the only player ever to have more than 300 receiving yards in a single game.
Ohio State’s win comes as no surprise as they have the three best wide receivers in 2021 with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson, and Chris Olave. Each of them has over 900 yards receiving, with Stroud being a finalist for the Heisman trophy.
