COLUMBUS, Ohio - In the third quarter against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship, K.J. Hill caught his 192nd reception for Ohio State to pass David Boston for the most in Ohio State history.
Hill's decision to come back for his redshirt senior season was somewhat surprising when he made the call back in January, but with the Buckeyes sitting at 13-0 and set for a date with Clemson in the College Football Playoff semifinals, Hill is thankful to have broken the record and is hoping to continue to create his legacy at Ohio State.
"You know, I'm blessed. I just feel blessed. I just want to thank God, thank my teammates for also making it possible, you know," Hill said. "But I feel like I worked hard for it, trying to leave a legacy here. I came back to school to do that. So I hope I do that."
Hill's accomplishment is certainly impressive, but more so was how he accomplished it. As Ohio State sat in the locker room down 21-7 at half time, Hill was sitting on only two receptions (two short of the record) for the Buckeyes as they looked to retool heading into the second half.
After a fiery half time speech by C.J. Saunders, the Buckeyes came out in the second half looking to make a big comeback, and Hill says everybody came out swinging hard.
"I definitely felt the energy pick up in the second half. First half we got punched in the mouth," Hill said. "We had our backs against the wall and, you know, the guys in the locker room before we left out, C.J. Saunders being a captain, he said "We're gonna swing out of this hole we're in and if you ain't swinging, you need to stay in the locker room." So everybody came out swinging hard as they can and we fight, scratch, claw to get a win."
Ohio State came out with touchdowns on their first two drives of the half, and with a chance to take the lead down 21-17, Hill showed why he has been so dependable for Ohio State in his five seasons in Scarlet and Gray.
After Justin Fields was sacked on the first play of the drive, he completed his next to passes to Hill to convert on third down.
Then, once the Buckeyes got down to the Wisconsin red zone, Hill took a pass at the Wisconsin 12-yard line past four defenders into the end zone to give the Buckeyes a 24-21 lead, one which they would not relinquish.
"On that drive we knew we needed to score. I just remember Bin [Victor] making a big third down and I think it was Chris [Olave] right before that," Hill said. "And I told them, just being a leader, we got to make plays for it to happen you know, it's going to come through our room and I feel like we did that. Give credit to them."
Hill caught two more receptions, including a later game-sealing 13-yard touchdown, to finish the game with seven catches for 83 yards.
Hill will have another chance to extend his receptions record in the playoffs later this month and potentially become the first Ohio State receiver with 200 career receptions, but if his career ended today, he would go down as one of the greatest receivers in Ohio State history.
He's never received much of the spotlight with the great run of receivers Ohio State has had the last few seasons. Being named team captain this season and taking on that leadership role for the Buckeyes, though, meant that Hill needed to be one of the guys to lead Ohio State when times get tough, and he did just that on Saturday.
"I feel like how I broke it...you know, we won the Big Ten Championship. I scored two times in the Big Ten Championship...we were down, we had to come back. You know, but I just want to lead the team to the Big Ten Championship," Hill said. "I know how it feels to be in the stadium with the confetti falling, so I wanted that feeling again for my senior year and I got it."
