Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546586
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 6 4 3 3. USC The Trojans are overdue for a break- through under fifth-year head coach Lin- coln Riley. This could be the year. Riley has a great signal-caller in redshirt senior Jayden Maiava. In the Trojans' first three games, Maiava completed 80.7 percent of his throws for 896 yards, with 10 touch- downs and 1 interception. As is always the case with Riley's teams, the defense is the biggest unknown. We might not find out how good this year's unit is until Sept. 26 when the Trojans welcome Oregon to the Coliseum in one of the conference's biggest early-season showdowns. 4. Michigan Michigan seemingly pulled off the big- gest recruiting coup of the 2025 cycle when it flipped five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood from LSU with the promise of a blockbuster NIL payday. Maybe it'll still work out, but the Tigers are in the top 10 at the moment, while new U-M head coach Kyle Whittingham was showing signs of impatience follow- ing a near-debacle on opening night in which his team needed a last-second of- ficiating gift to defeat Western Michigan. With solid quarterback play, the Wol- verines are surely a playoff team, as ev- idenced by their 17-10 upset of No. 11 Oklahoma in Week 2. Will they get it, though? 5. Oregon Throughout the offseason, the Ducks were a trendy CFP championship pick. That kind of talk has been the kiss of death for this program in years past, and a back- and-forth tussle against visiting Boise State in Oregon's 2026 opener followed by a 39-31 road loss at Oklahoma State didn't do anything to quiet the skeptics. Heisman Trophy hopeful Dante Moore threw for 378 yards and 3 touchdowns to keep Oregon one step ahead of the Bron- cos in a 34-27 win. But the Ducks will need to see a lot more from their star- studded defense, which gave up 554 yards to the Cowboys, if they're going to live up to the hype. 6. Penn State The Nittany Lions looked like a cohe- sive, well-coached team on opening day. In a 45-0 rout of Marshall, they commit- ted only 4 penalties and didn't turn the ball over. They were less sharp at Temple the following week but still won com- fortably. Precision has been a big part of Indiana's formula for success the past two years, so PSU's opening performances have to be considered encouraging. The road ahead is tougher, though, starting with the Big Ten opener against visiting Wisconsin, followed by a visit to Northwestern for the grand opening of 1. Jeremiah Smith | WR | Ohio State What's left to say about Smith? He's the best wideout in college football and a sure bet to be one of the first five players se- lected in the 2027 NFL Draft. In Ohio State's opener against Ball State, he had 8 catches for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns despite sitting out the second half. 2. Dante Moore | QB | Oregon A Heisman Trophy favorite, Moore was the key to staving off Boise State's upset bid on opening day, totaling 225 passing yards in a back-and-forth second half. 3. Jayden Maiava | QB | USC No one's better at producing elite quar- terbacks than Lincoln Riley. Maiava follows in the footsteps of such Riley proteges as Caleb Williams, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield and Jalen Hurts, all of whom are currently starting in the NFL. 4. Josh Hoover | QB | Indiana Hoover averaged 17.8 yards per comple- tion in Indiana's opener against North Texas. It's not farfetched to imagine him following Fernando Mendoza as a Heisman Trophy winner. 5. Demond Williams Jr. | QB | Washington We don't want to overload this list with quarterbacks, but how can we leave off Williams? He had 329 yards of total offense versus Washington State in the Huskies' opener. 6. Carter Smith | OT | Indiana Smith, a 6-foot-5, 310-pound fifth-year senior, was one of the keys to the Hoosiers' title run last season. The consensus All- American didn't allow a sack or quarterback hit in 2025. 7. Charlie Becker | WR | Indiana Becker is going to be Hoover's best friend this year in Bloomington. Two of his first 4 receptions of the season went for touchdowns against North Texas. 8. Trevor Lauck | OL | Iowa The standout left tackle was a key con- tributor to an Iowa offensive line that won the Joe Moore Award last season. 9. Jordan Marshall | RB | Michigan Like the rest of Michigan's offense, Mar- shall got off to a slow start, totaling just 44 yards against Western Michigan. There will surely be better days to come for the junior, who averaged 6.2 yards per carry in 2025. 10. KJ Duff | WR | Rutgers Duff would be a huge star if he played for a better team. He had 9 catches for 196 yards and 3 touchdowns in an oth- erwise dismal loss to UMass on opening night. Jeremiah Smith has been hailed as the best receiver in college football since his freshman season at Ohio State. PHOTO COURTESY OHIO STATE ATHLETICS T O P 1 0 O F F E N S I V E P L AY E R S