Jeremiah Smith, Caleb Downs finished in top 10 of Heisman Trophy vote
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Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs both finished in the top-10 in the final voting for the Heisman Trophy.
Smith finished sixth, and Downs was ninth, as the voting for the fifth through 10th spots was revealed early on Dec. 11.
Julian Sayin, the Buckeyes’ redshirt freshman quarterback, is one of the four finalists for college football’s most prestigious individual award and joins Notre Dame running Jeremiyah Love, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia at the ceremony in New York this weekend.
The full voting results are released following the announcement on Dec. 13.
It is the first time the Buckeyes have had three players end up in the top-10 of the voting since 2019 when quarterback Justin Fields, defensive end Chase Young and running back J.K. Dobbins were third, fourth and sixth, respectively.
Smith, the superstar sophomore who is considered as talented as anyone in the sport, was one of the two candidates that Ohio State began promoting for the Heisman in November.
But Smith suffered an unspecified injury that limited him in consecutive weeks, leading him to sit out a game against Rutgers on Nov. 22 before returning at Michigan on Nov. 29.
Smith finished with 80 receptions for 1,086 yards and 11 touchdowns between the 11 games in the regular season and Big Ten championship game.
There was no formal campaign for Downs, who transferred to Ohio State from Alabama last year, but his impact for the nation’s top-ranked defense is understood.
The Buckeyes position Downs all over the field, using his range and savviness to swarm ball carriers. Downs had 60 tackles, two interceptions and a sack in 13 games this year.
Following the Buckeyes’ loss to Indiana in the conference championship game last weekend, it is unlikely that Sayin will take home the Heisman.
Mendoza, who was on the other of the quarterback dual and led the Hoosiers to their first-ever 13-0 record, remains the favorite.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow along on Bluesky, Instagram and X for more.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Heisman vote has Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith, Caleb Downs in top 10
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