Updated

Updated · Yahoo Sports · Oct 21

Sporting News Names 2026 Midseason All-America Team as Miami's 49.6-Point Offense Leads Picks

Updated

Updated · Yahoo Sports · Oct 21

Sporting News Names 2026 Midseason All-America Team as Miami's 49.6-Point Offense Leads Picks

Q: Which midseason All-America snub is secretly preparing to dominate the second half of the 2026 season?

Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith looks like the strongest “snub” candidate to own the second half of the 2026 season. That is less an argument against Sporting News’ first-team picks than a reflection of how loaded receiver was. Smith still made the midseason team, but not as the headline choice despite numbers that are impossible to ignore. Through seven games, he had 52 catches for 984 yards and 12 touchdowns, led the nation in receptions, ranked near the top nationally in yards and scores, and had already climbed to the top of Ohio State’s career record book in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. The case for a second-half surge is built on more than volume. Smith has been stacking landmark performances almost weekly, including 217 yards against Illinois and 206 against Iowa, and he tied the Big Ten career record for touchdown catches by Week 7. That suggests he is not just productive but accelerating toward a historic finish. If the question is about a player left off the first team entirely, Tennessee running back DeSean Bishop is the cleanest answer. He trailed Missouri’s Jamal Roberts by only 30 rushing yards, 837 to 867, in what Sporting News itself described as a close race. With that margin so narrow, Bishop has a realistic path to flip the narrative over the season’s back half. Still, the best bet to dominate nationally is Smith, because his ceiling combines elite weekly production, record-setting pace and playoff-race visibility.

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Sports · Oct 21

Miami quarterback Darian Mensah and receiver Malachi Toney head Sporting News' 2026 Midseason All-America team after powering the FBS's top-scoring offense at 49.6 points per game.
Mensah leads the FBS with a 204.2 passer rating, 1,764 yards, 18 touchdowns and one interception, while Toney has 50 catches for 758 yards and eight scores for unbeaten No. 1 Miami.
Four schools placed multiple players on the first team: Miami, Missouri, UCLA and Tennessee. Missouri's Jamal Roberts and Tennessee's DeSean Bishop won the most-contested running back spots with 867 and 837 rushing yards.
Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons anchors the defense with an FBS-best 10.5 sacks, and Duke's Nate Sheppard earned all-purpose honors as the national leader in all-purpose yardage.
The SEC, Big Ten and ACC each landed seven players on the first team; Sporting News said its final 2026 All-America selection will include both first and second teams.