Week 5 didn’t just shake up the college football landscape - it kept the Heisman race crowded with quarterbacks and a wideout making noise in a big way.
At the top of the conversation is Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith, who keeps putting together stat lines that look unreal even by his standards. Against Iowa on Saturday, he caught 11 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns.
The Hawkeyes tried different coverages and different answers, but none of it slowed him down. Smith now has 44 catches for 823 yards and nine touchdowns, and he’s already Ohio State’s all-time leader in receptions, receiving touchdowns and receiving yards.
Miami quarterback Darian Mensah is right there in the mix after another sharp performance against Clemson. He threw for 227 yards and a touchdown and added 27 rushing yards with another score.
The numbers behind his season are even louder: 84.2 percent completions, 1,438 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and no interceptions. Miami is 5-0, and Mensah has been the engine.
Alabama’s Keelon Russell keeps stacking up production too. He has thrown for 1,414 yards, 11 touchdowns and two interceptions this season, and he backed that up in Saturday’s 56-23 win over Mississippi State.
Russell finished with 285 passing yards, three touchdown passes and a rushing score while beating out fellow Heisman contender Kamario Taylor in the matchup. Over his last three games, Russell has a 10/0 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr has stayed a little more under the radar, but the results are there. He has 1,197 passing yards, 13 touchdowns and one interception on the season, then added 234 yards and four touchdowns against North Carolina on Saturday. He’s shown he can make every throw and do enough with his legs to keep defenses honest.
Taylor is still very much in the Heisman picture despite a rough outing against Alabama. The Mississippi State quarterback has thrown for 1,450 yards, 17 touchdowns and four interceptions this season, and he gets a chance to bounce back when Mississippi State visits LSU in Baton Rouge on Oct.
- That matchup is set to be one of the day’s top games.
In Other News...
Chris Beard Just Gave Ole Miss Fans Another Recruiting Reason To Believe
Chris Beard added another piece to Ole Miss long-term backcourt picture with a commitment from Texas-based shooting guard Paxton Ivy in the 2027 recruiting class. Ivy, who moved back to Dallas for his senior season, brings the kind of profile Beard and his staff have tended to value: outside shooting, a feel for the game and the basketball IQ to fit into a system that asks guards to make quick, smart decisions.
For a program that is already looking ahead to the 2026-27 season, which begins Nov. 2, it is another sign that the recruiting momentum is not slowing down. Ole Miss also has an exhibition against Alabama on Oct. 15, a useful early test as Beard continues building toward the future while keeping the current roster on track. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Has A Quarterback Drawing Rare Praise From Herbstreit
Kirk Herbstreit spent part of ESPNs college football conversation this week making an unusually bold case for Trinidad Chambliss, the Ole Miss quarterback whose rise has turned heads well beyond Oxford. Even with Alabamas Keelon Russell fresh off a strong performance, Herbstreit singled out Chambliss as the passer he would take above every other quarterback in the sport, and Joey Galloway joined in the discussion by pointing to the traits that have made Chambliss such a tough player to ignore.
For Ole Miss, the praise only adds to the intrigue around a quarterback who has already forced his way into the national conversation while working through his sixth year of eligibility granted by a court injunction. Chambliss has produced strong passing and rushing numbers through four games, and the bigger question now is how his game translates down the line, especially with his height mentioned as a possible NFL limitation. [Read more 🡒]
Former Rebels Are Making NFL Noise And Fighting For More
A number of former Rebels were in the middle of the NFL conversation in Week 4, with familiar names showing up across box scores and on special teams in ways that should keep Ole Miss followers paying attention. The recap touched on everything from receptions and pass breakups to tackles and sacks, a reminder that the programs reach in the league runs well beyond the marquee quarterbacks and receivers fans tend to notice first.
Some ex-Rebels also dealt with the less glamorous side of an NFL season, with injuries and limited roles shaping how much they were able to contribute. Even so, the week left open the question of who can turn a strong early-season showing into a bigger opportunity next, and which of these former Rebels is on the verge of forcing more meaningful snaps. [Read more 🡒]