Scarlet Sunrise: Jeremiah Smith listed among top 25 players in college football

COLUMBUS — Ohio State and the rest of college football are at the midway point of the regular season. And the folks at ESPN, the self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader in Sports, have released a list of the top 25 players in college football through the first half of the year.

You guessed it: a Buckeyes superstar made the list. Freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith was listed as the No. 11 player in the sport — and the third-best player in the Big Ten. He’s behind fellow Big Ten stars in Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel and defensive tackle Derrick Harmon.

Smith is ranked as the third-best receiver on the list behind Alabama’s freshman receiver Ryan Williams and Ole Miss’ Tre Harris.

Smith was also added to the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award last Wednesday, yet another sign that he’s turning heads nationally in his first season on campus. Smith currently has 32 catches for a team-leading 553 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns. He also has a rushing touchdown this season.

Smith became the first Ohio State player in program history to catch a touchdown in each of the Buckeyes’ first six games of the season when he grabbed a score on Saturday night in the loss to Oregon. He has routinely dazzled with one-handed catches to go along with just solid receiver play.

Idle Buckeyes stay put in AP Poll after chaotic week of college football

Ohio State had a full weekend to regroup and recover after its loss to Oregon on Oct. 12. Chaos was the order of the day in college football while the Buckeyes were off.

Now that the dust is settling on a crazy weekend of action, the Buckeyes stayed put in the latest AP Poll. The team that beat Ohio State, Oregon, is now the No. 1 team in the country after previous No. 1 Texas fell at home to Georgia. Penn State moved up to No. 2, while Georgia leaped over Ohio State for the No. 3 spot after beating Texas in Austin. Ohio State is fourth, while the Longhorns are now fifth.

Undefeated Miami, one-loss LSU, undefeated Iowa State, one-loss Clemson and one-loss Tennessee round out the top 10.

Other Big Ten teams to be ranked are: No. 13 Indiana (7-0) and No. 20 Illinois (6-1). They’re two of the most surprising teams and stories in the sport right now.

The Buckeyes will finally get back on the field — to potentially get the bad taste of the Oregon loss out of their mouths — against Nebraska on Saturday (Noon, FOX). The Cornhuskers were blown out in a 56-7 loss to Indiana on Saturday. Now Nebraska will play its second straight road game against a ranked team.

Buckeyes open as heavy favorite for Big Noon date with Nebraska

Ohio State didn’t play this weekend, hitting the midway point of its season after a road loss to Oregon last weekend. Nebraska, meanwhile, just got pummeled in a road game at Indiana on Saturday afternoon.

Now the two will meet in Columbus, and the Buckeyes are expected to get back on the winning side of things in a big way, while the Cornhuskers will be facing their second straight ranked team on the road.

Ohio State opened the week as a 23.5-point favorite over Nebraska for the Big Noon matchup on FOX. The total has been set at 48.5.

The Buckeyes are still hurting from their last-second loss to Oregon two Saturdays ago. Nebraska will be the first chance this team has to take the field again following the loss.

Counting down

Buckeyes vs. Nebraska: 5 days
Ohio State at Penn State: 12 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 40 days
Big Ten title game: 47 days

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