Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith absolutely torched defenses on Saturday against Illinois, vaulting him to the top of the 2026 Heisman Trophy odds board at a stunning +290. This guy made a massive statement, going from a third-place +1000 shot to the clear favorite. The field for this year’s Heisman is wide open after Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza cleaned house in 2025, leading his Hoosiers to an unblemished 16-0 season, a national championship, and ultimately, the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft by the Raiders. Now, it’s anyone’s game.
Smith Blows Up Against Illinois
Smith put up a historical output against Illinois, setting his receiving yards record with an absurd 217 yards. He wasn’t messing around, hitting his first-career three touchdown game before halftime and piling up 150 receiving yards in that first half alone! He finished the game with four touchdown catches, becoming only the fifth Ohio State wide receiver to ever do that after snagging one early in the fourth quarter. Remember his 187-yard performance as a true freshman in the Rose Bowl victory over Oregon? He blew past that. Smith is already at 605 yards for the season, and it’s all thanks to highlight reels like making Illinois defensive back Mac Resetich look silly on a 72-yard touchdown, or going up to win two ridiculous jump balls on fade routes in the red zone. That’s big-time stuff, folks.
Mensah And The Rest Of The Heisman Hunt
But hold up, Smith isn’t the only one making noise early on. Miami’s Darian Mensah started his career on fire, immediately silencing any doubters. He threw for 401 yards and five touchdowns against Stanford in Week 1, completing at least 90% of his passes. Think about that: he became only the sixth quarterback since 2000 to hit those numbers in a single game. Then, he followed it up by completing 14 of 15 passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns in Miami’s 77-7 blowout win over Florida A&M in Week 2. He even completed his first 24 passes against Wake Forest on Friday night. That’s consistency you can bank on, and he’s sitting strong at +440 on the board. His teammate Malachi Toney is also in the mix at +2200. Trinidad Chambliss surged big after tearing it up against his old coach, Lane Kiffin, and LSU, and he’s still in it at +1100. Kamario Taylor is sitting at +550, CJ Carr and Jadan Baugh both at +1200, Keelon Russell at +1600, then Julian Sayin, Arch Manning, and Gunner Stockton are all at +2500.
The path is absolutely clear for a new legend to emerge, and right now, Jeremiah Smith’s name is ringing the loudest. Can he keep up this insane pace? The race is wide open, but Smith just fired a huge shot. You gotta wonder who’s gonna answer back next week.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
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