The Ohio State Buckeyes are the top-ranked team in the nation and head coach Ryan Day has his team on track to win a second national championship after racing through the College Football Playoffs a year ago.

The Buckeyes have won their first five games this season and their undefeated record will be put to the test Saturday when they travel to Champaign, Illinois to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini. Illinois brings a 5-1 record into this game, but the home team is a 14.5-point underdog against Ohio State.

While the Buckeyes have strength on both sides of the ball and key players who are likely to be selected by NFL teams next spring, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith appears to be the team's most explosive player and perhaps the best player in the nation. However, Day thinks that Smith's chances to win the Heisman Trophy as college football's best player may be out of the receiver's control.

Ohio State opponents may focus on stopping Smith, and that could limit his Heisman chances

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day watches a replay on the scoreboard during the NCAA football game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Oct. 4, 2025.
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Unlike quarterbacks and running backs who have a better chance of dictating the action as well as the pace of the game, defenses can focus the majority of their attention on slowing down a receiver's production with double-coverage and other techniques.

“A little bit of both in terms of you design plays where you think the ball may go one place, but if a defense is designed to stop that area or that player, that area of the formation or area of the field or whatever it might be, then the ball needs to go somewhere else,” Day said, per reporter Thomas Goldkamp of On3.com. “And I think that’s what’s challenging for a receiver.

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“I say that and whether Jeremiah gets the statistics that he would need to get into the Heisman race or not, it’s sort of out of his hands because there’s just certain things that can happen that are out of his control.”

Smith has caught 35 passes for 463 yards and 6 touchdowns this season for Ohio State. While those numbers are solid, they may not be good enough to gain significant support in the Ohio State star's bid for the Heisman Trophy.