College Football Week 5 Live Winners and Losers: Maybe We Should Just Name Jeremiah Smith a Permanent Winner

The Ohio State wide receiver continues to be unstoppable.

Jeremiah Smith broke the Ohio State records for career receptions and receiving touchdowns against Iowa. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Update at 9:15 p.m. ET Saturday

From the earliest days of spring, Alabama believed in quarterback Keelon Russell. He racked up four passing touchdowns in the Crimson Tide’s spring game, and wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams compared playing with him to “a video game.”

Then, a funny thing happened: Russell became the rare quality Alabama quarterback to fly under the radar. Ole Miss’s Trinidad Chambliss and Mississippi State’s Kamario Taylor gained the SEC’s attention, alongside famous-since-birth Texas gunslinger Arch Manning. In the wake of his performance Saturday, however, Russell—along with his team—must be taken seriously.

Here’s hoping your team won over its ample doubters amid a clear Midwestern and rainy Southern afternoon. Welcome to Week 5’s (now live throughout the day!) winners and losers.

Winner: Jeremiah Smith

You know how the Allies from World War II get permanent seats on the UN Security Council? Perhaps we should give Smith a permanent seat in winners and losers, because it seems like he ends up in the winners section every week. Here’s what the Ohio State wide receiver and Heisman frontrunner did against Iowa’s No. 1 scoring defense in the country: caught 11 passes, racked up 206 yards, scored two touchdowns. Nevada wide receiver Trevor Insley in 1999 is the only wide receiver with 2,000 yards in a single FBS season; if the Buckeyes play the Big Ten championship and (say) two College Football Playoff games, Smith is pacing for 2,469.

Loser: Florida after a hangover game for the ages

A Gators comedown was inevitable after how good coach Jon Sumrall’s squad looked against Ole Miss, but Missouri’s wire-to-wire domination of Florida was a complete stunner. In skunking the Gators 45–17, the Tigers a.) rolled up 560 yards on offense, b.) held the Gators to 42 rushing yards total and c.) held star Florida running back Jadan Baugh to 13 rushing yards on 12 carries. The Gators play a South Carolina team in complete free fall next Saturday—a prime bounce-back opportunity. Florida’s defensive line can’t wilt the way it did Saturday against Texas and Georgia later this month, though.

The typically explosive Jadan Baugh was bottled up by Missouri’s defense in Florida’s road loss Saturday. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Winners: Keelon Russell, Kalen DeBoer and Alabama

All kinds of victory for the Crimson Tide in a comprehensive 56–23 win over the Bulldogs. For Russell: an announcement of his Heisman candidacy after spreading 10 passing touchdowns and 970 yards over his past three games. For DeBoer: another big-game feather in his cap as he continues his multiyear quest to win over the Alabama faithful. For the Crimson Tide at large: a 5–0 start that buys them a margin of error over the next five weeks, during which they’ll see Georgia, Tennessee on the road and LSU on the road.

Loser: Michigan

The Wolverines, an object of fascination throughout college football this season, added another strange game to their curriculum vitae Saturday against Minnesota. The Golden Gophers outgained Michigan 262–180 but came oh-so-close to losing, going up 20–14 with 13:44 left before successfully gritting out a tense fourth quarter. Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood—whose struggles are becoming more and more difficult for his youth to excuse—completed just 10 of 21 passes for two interceptions. The team’s bye week couldn’t come at a better time, with a potential get-right game against a mediocre Penn State team looming Oct. 17.

Kyle Whittingham’s underwhelming first season at Michigan continued with a second consecutive loss Saturday, this time to Minnesota. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Winner: Wake Forest

Considering the Demon Deacons have played football in the ACC since 1953, setting a program conference margin of victory is no small feat. That’s precisely what Wake Forest did against Stanford Saturday, blasting the Cardinal 57–3 to move to 4–1 on the season. As amazing a show as coach Jake Dickert has put on this year, quarterback Gio Lopez’s improvement may be even more impressive—with two passing touchdowns against Stanford, he now has he same number (10) he had all last year for North Carolina. The Demon Deacons are an ACC title contender, full stop.

Loser: Massachusetts

The future looked so bright for the Minutemen after a program-altering 4–0 start, composed of double-digit wins over Rutgers, Sacred Heart, Stonehill and Sacramento State. And then—Eastern Michigan. The Eagles, who’ve endured an up-and-down season under longtime coach Chris Creighton, threw Massachusetts their best punch and connected with a 38–14 victory. A prime culprit for the Minutemen, now playing from behind in the MAC: allowing Eastern Michigan to go 11-for-14 on third down.

Winner: Northwestern

The Wildcats opened their nine-figure jewel of a new stadium Friday by completely flummoxing the Nittany Lions, showing themselves potential Big Ten movers. The most shocking statistic of Northwestern’s 34–13 win: a 413–48 rushing yardage differential (the most rushing yards Penn State has allowed since 2022). Like Wake Forest, the Wildcats should crack the Top 25 in the near future. How long Northwestern will stay there is a different question, as a vicious Oregon-Iowa-Ohio State-Minnesota stretch begins Halloween.

Loser: Shane Beamer and South Carolina

It is DEFCON-1 for the Gamecocks, losers of eight consecutive SEC games and light-years removed from the No. 19 national finishers of 2024. The gory details Saturday: a 17–0 lead transformed into a 35–34 overtime loss to Kentucky, helped along by seven penalties and a pair of lost fumbles. South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers filled up the stat sheet with quarterback Cutter Woods reportedly breathing down his neck; Sellers threw for 226 yards and ran for 147 but couldn’t carry the Gamecocks over the finish line. The situation could deteriorate further in the near future with an angry Gators team on deck.

Winner: Dante Reno

Yale coach Tony Reno was a formidable presence in the Ivy League from 2012 to ’25, winning five conference titles. Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease forced his resignation in February, and he died Friday from the rare brain disorder at the age of 52. On Saturday, Bulldogs quarterback Dante Reno (Tony’s son) suited up for Yale—and threw four touchdowns in a 41–24 victory. All there really is to say about this performance is that it could not have been easy.

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