COLUMBUS, Ohio – Troy Smith was playfully throwing the football with a friend's child near midfield at Ohio Stadium, behind him his future placard, still covered, with his name and No. 10 next to Ohio State greats.

Smith is getting used to being back in the country after recently being released by the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.

• Ohio State football: Former Buckeyes QB Troy Smith's No. 10 to be enshrined in Ohio Stadium vs. Michigan

While Smith was in Canada, he had bad cable. He didn't get to see J.T. Barrett's progression, the steps he's taken from being a freshman liability to a Heisman Trophy contender.

So when Smith was at Ohio State's 42-27 win over Indiana on Saturday, a game in which Barrett broke his single-season passing touchdowns record, he got the full scope of the Buckeyes' quarterback.

One question, though: How weak is it that Barrett broke the record on a shovel pass?

Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback J.T. Barrett broke Troy Smiths' single-season passing touchdowns record on a shovel pass in the second half of the Buckeyes' 42-27 win over Indiana on Saturday.

"Hey now," Smith said laughing. "Touchdowns are touchdowns. I don't feel a certain type of way about records because I totally believe that they are meant to be broken. J.T.'s name is in the record book. You can't take it out."

What does Smith have to be mad about? He's all smiles considering he's going to be forever enshrined in Ohio Stadium as one of the best players in Ohio State history. He's a former Heisman Trophy winner, he won two Big Ten titles and he took the Buckeyes to the national title game.

But Smith reached the height of his success as a senior, only years after being seasoned by former coach Jim Tressel and his staff.

Now Barrett, a redshirt freshman, has 33 touchdown passes after throwing four against the Hoosiers in a game that'll be considered one of his worst of the season. There's something special about Barrett, but Smith can't say that he didn't see this coming.

"I wouldn't say I'm stunned," Smith said of Barrett's season. "I got a chance to know and be around J.T. prior to him coming here with the Elite 11 stuff.

"The type of person he was then, he is doing nothing but molding it into a more noticeable guy that we know him. Him being a Texas guy and coming up here and bringing a different twang to what we know as football, that means something. I think J.T. is doing nothing but taking the bull by the horns and leading our team."

Troy Smith said J.T. Barrett belongs in the Heisman Trophy conversation.

Smith, one of six Ohio State Heisman recipients, didn't hesitate to include Barrett's name in the picture of potentially being No. 7.

"When you're playing for and orchestrating and leading one of the better teams in the nation, and you're doing it in a manner that is statistically up there with everyone else, I don't see why you shouldn't be in the discussion," Smith said. "Bringing home the trophy, it means a lot and is very tough to do. Obviously the losses in certain situations won't help his cause, but the more he wins, the more it'll help him."

In a week Smith will forever honored as a Buckeye great.

Maybe on Saturday he was watching the next one.