Jeremiah Smith is playing out of his mind right now, racking up an unbelievable 617 yards over just five games with seven touchdowns and 33 catches already this season. Seriously, has any receiver in college football history started a season like this? What Smith is doing has Ohio State fans absolutely buzzing and the rest of the country scrambling to figure out how to stop him.
Smith’s Unstoppable Rise and the Buckeyes’ Dominance
The dude’s performance on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium was just wild. Smith hauled in 11 catches for 206 yards, completely blowing open what had been a pretty tight first three quarters against Iowa. The Hawkeyes’ defense, usually a brick wall, just couldn’t keep Smith corralled for long, and they definitely didn’t have the firepower to keep pace with Ohio State, who ended up drilling them 31-14. You gotta love it, Smith even hit the Heisman pose after one of his two touchdowns. It’s getting ridiculous watching him dominate like this, and frankly, I’m here for it. The Buckeyes are sitting pretty at number two, and with Smith playing like this, who can argue? They’ve got Maryland next week, and you know Smith is already looking forward to it.
Chaos Reigns: The Unpredictable World of College Football Rankings
While Ohio State is doing their thing, the rest of college football is straight-up anarchy, especially in the SEC. Alabama beat Mississippi State, who beat Missouri, who beat Florida, who beat Ole Miss, who beat LSU. You get the picture, right? The transfer portal and NIL deals have completely flipped the script, loosening the grip of the old big brands and making midseason rankings a total nightmare. Florida slipped from the poll, Mississippi State dropped out, and Missouri is unranked. But hey, it opens the door for teams like Tennessee, who actually kept pace with top-ranked Texas last week, and even Indiana (yeah, we know, they haven’t played anyone!). It’s a wild ride out there.
We also saw some other crazy results: Pitt stormed back to beat Virginia Tech, moving to a solid 5-0, and their coach Pat Narduzzi is demanding they get ranked. Northwestern opened its stadium with a beatdown over Penn State. Minnesota finally beat Michigan at home for the first time since the 1970s, which was PJ Fleck’s first win over the Wolverines in his decade with the Gophers. And Purdue? They snagged their first Big Ten win in over 1,000 days at Illinois! On the flip side, coaches like Mike Norvell at FSU helped their case by whipping Virginia, while Shane Beamer (Kentucky beat South Carolina in OT) and Mike Locksley (Maryland blew a lead at Nebraska) definitely hurt theirs.
So, who’s at the top of this insane heap? The Texas Longhorns are holding steady at number one, fresh off a rest week with Arch Manning leading the charge. They’ve got two of the best wins in the country with Ohio State and that road win at Tennessee. But can they hold onto it? Their next five opponents after facing Oklahoma in Dallas are all ranked in the current AP Top 25, including top-10 teams Florida and Ole Miss back-to-back. It’s going to be a battle, but that’s what we love about this sport! Next week, it’s Texas versus Oklahoma in Dallas. Get ready, because this season is just getting started, and things are only going to get crazier!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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