CFB Week 5 winners, losers: Jeremiah Smith dominates, SEC teams humbled

Expect those calls to grow as Michigan enters its bye. It should surprise no one if Underwood's play earns him a spot on the bench.

Winner: Tennessee Volunteers running back DeSean Bishop

On a day when No. 17 Tennessee (4-1, 1-1 in SEC) had just 86 passing yards, Bishop's monster effort in a 24-14 win over Auburn (3-2, 1-2 in SEC) was paramount. The senior back had 34 carries for 220 yards and three touchdowns to carry a Volunteers squad that has a brewing quarterback controversy after true freshman Faizon Brandon was pulled following a poor start, going 3-of-8 for no yards and an interception. Bishop may need 40 attempts when the Vols host No. 7 Alabama in two weeks.

Loser: Future Ohio State (and FBS?) wide receiver record chasers

Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is a weekly fixture in our winners and losers column. Each week comes with another milestone, and on Saturday, he became No. 5 on Ohio State's all-time receptions and receiving touchdowns list after finishing a 31-14 win over No. 14 Iowa Hawkeyes (4-1, 1-1 in Big Ten) with 11 catches for 206 yards and two touchdowns.

At this rate, by the end of the season, he could have those records etched in stone. And it's not just future Ohio State wideouts in danger of chasing those impossible numbers.

According to ESPN Insights, he's only four passing touchdowns shy of surpassing Braylon Edwards' record for the most in Big Ten history. 

Smith is also up to 823 receiving yards through five games, an average of 164.6 yards per game. Depending on how many games Ohio State (4-1, 2-0 in Big Ten) plays, he could shatter the FBS single-season receiving yards record set by former Nevada wideout Trevor Insley (2,060 yards) in 1999. 

He's far off — for now — of the career receiving yards record set by former Western Michigan star Corey Davis (5,285 yards), but he jumped 50 spots on the career receiving yards leaderboard on Saturday, moving from No. 150 to No. 100 at 3,381 yards. If he keeps at his current pace, Smith would finish the 12-game regular season at 1,975.2 yards, entering conference championship weekend fifth on the all-time list (~4,533 yards).

Winner: Nebraska Cornhuskers

We'll find out next weekend if Nebraska's start is legit, but the Cornhuskers (5-0, 2-0 in Big Ten) will be riding high entering a massive home game against No. 6 Indiana (5-0, 2-0 in Big Ten). On Saturday, they defeated Maryland (2-3, 0-2 in Big Ten), 48-23, marking just the third time in program history that they won each of their first five games by at least 18 points. Nebraska's margin of victory (147 points) is its largest through five games since 1996. (h/t Stathead)

Loser: SEC early-season stars

It's fitting that on the first Saturday of October, a couple of potential SEC sleepers turned back into pumpkins.

No. 8 Florida Gators (4-1, 2-1 in SEC) and No. 16 Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-1, 2-1) were humbled in blowout losses after receiving glowing praise following blistering starts.

Mississippi State opened the day with a 56-23 home loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide (5-0, 3-0 in SEC), while Florida was lapped in No. 25 Missouri's 45-17 demolition. Both have plenty of opportunities in front of them to once again become the darlings of the 2026 season. But they'll have to bounce back in a hurry.

Winner: Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue (2-3, 1-1 in Big Ten) snapped a 19-game conference losing streak in a 24-17 road win at Illinois (2-3, 0-2 in Big Ten). The Boilermakers set the tone early with a 15-play opening drive and then led by as many as 14 in the fourth quarter to secure head coach Barry Odom's breakthrough win.

Winner: Iowa State Cyclones running back Aiden Flora

Flora was the best player in Saturday's best game, Iowa State's barnburner 45-42 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers (3-2, 0-2 in Big 12).

The former walk-on, whose only FBS offers out of high school were at service academies Air Force and Army, had 22 carries for 212 yards and three rushing touchdowns, including the winning score with under two minutes remaining. Making his day more special, Flora completed both of his pass attempts off trick plays for 48 yards and two touchdowns.

On the first, Flora swung out in motion pre-snap and caught a backward lateral, then found wide receiver Cody Jackson open for a 46-yard score.

Right before halftime, Flora took a more standard toss from directly behind the quarterback and began by attacking the line of scrimmage before quickly shifting gears and launching a pass to tight end Vince Benetti in the end zone.

According to ESPN Insights, Flora joined legendary Texas quarterback Vince Young as the only player in Big 12 history to have two passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns and 200 rushing yards in a single game.

Loser: Former Colorado State Rams defensive coordinator Tyson Summers

We've heard of coaches being fired after games in season. That's nothing new. But Colorado State (2-3, 0-1 in Pac-12) took a different path in a 56-26 loss to Oregon State (3-2, 1-0 in Pac-12) when handling Summers, their former defensive coordinator (as of midway through the first quarter of Saturday's Pac-12 home opener).

As the Fort Collins Coloradoan's Kevin Lytle observed, "Summers was on the sideline calling plays early in the game ... But by later in the first half, [he] couldn't be seen on the sideline."

Afterward, head coach Jim Mora confirmed that Summers was no longer with the team, telling reporters he left of his own volition after being stripped of play-calling duties.

It's a bizarre situation, but based on the defense's performance, the move was hardly unwarranted.