Malachi Toney injury vaults Jeremiah Smith back to Heisman top spot.

Jeremiah Smith's Heisman chances just took a leap after Malachi Toney news.

The Miami star receiver suffered a high ankle sprain during practice that will require surgery.

Toney will miss the remainder of the regular season, though he could return for the College Football Playoff.

For most of this season, Smith has been the best player in college football.

He has been the only consistent part of Ohio State's offense this year.

Without him, the Buckeyes would have three or more losses.

To this point in the season, Smith has 62 catches for 1,067 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Those stats rank fifth, second, and second in the country.

Just a few days before Ohio State takes on Oregon, his chances to win the Heisman have gotten better.

Toney plays for the number-one-ranked team in the country, Miami.

Playing for the undefeated Hurricanes was the main argument Toney had over Smith.

Winning was Toney's best argument.

Now he cannot put up the requisite stats.

Jeremiah Smith is definitively the best receiver in college football with Malachi Toney going down.

While it was widely accepted that Smith is the best receiver in the country, there is no doubt about that now.

Toney is by far the best weapon that the Hurricanes have.

With him out, perhaps Miami will start to drop some games.

That could help Ohio State's argument for a higher seed in the College Football Playoff.

Of course, Ohio State has to make the CFP first.

If they drop another game, they likely will be left out.

They do not have the juice with the rest of the schedule to make up ground.

However, beating Oregon on Saturday would give them another ranked victory.

OHIO STATE'S QUARTERBACK SITUATION

Smith's quest got tougher when Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin suffered an injury that coach Ryan Day said would cost the signal caller several weeks.

Smith will still be catching passes from backup quarterback Luke Fahey when the Buckeyes take on Oregon on Nov. 7.

The Buckeyes suffered their second loss of the season against the USC Trojans.

They received a No. 12 ranking in the first College Football Playoff top 25 list.

If the Ohio State Buckeyes are going to win the rest of their games, they need Smith to play like the best player in the country.

He is by far the best weapon they have on offense, and they need him now more than ever with Luke Fahey as the starting quarterback.

Even if Fahey gets replaced by Tavien St. Clair at some point, the Buckeyes still need Smith to be the unstoppable force he has been all year.

That is the only way the offense is going to be good enough to not just make the College Football Playoff but have a shot to win a title.

THE HEISMAN RACE SHIFT

Malachi Toney's injury will have a major impact on the college football season — from the College Football Playoff picture to the Heisman Trophy race.

As far as Toney is concerned, the Miami star receiver was destined for New York, and his absence opens the door for other contenders.

In a sick twist of fate, the Heisman candidate who benefits most from Toney's absence might be his Miami teammate, quarterback Darian Mensah.

The electric duo was going to split votes, but now Mensah could make a push for the award while Toney is out, starting on Saturday night against No. 11 Notre Dame.

On the other side of that matchup, Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr can assert himself against Mensah and finally push himself into that top tier of favorites.

Then there is Jeremiah Smith, the clear frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy until Julian Sayin's injury.

Now that Smith will not have to keep up with Toney's torrid pace, his path to college football's greatest individual honor is wide open, even with a true freshman at quarterback.

The stakes of Saturday night's showdown in South Bend were already sky-high, but they just became stratospheric for the quarterbacks.

Mensah is right there with Smith as one of the two clear favorites to win the award.

What if he goes on the road against a national championship contender and pulls out a win without his top wide receiver?

Based on Miami's remaining schedule, they might want to get a jump on etching Mensah's name into the award.

Meanwhile, Carr has been holding steady behind the top tier of favorites for a while, and this is his chance to make a move.

To this point, Notre Dame's schedule has not done Carr any favors.

He has not really needed to post huge numbers to pick up wins, and the loss to BYU hurt his stock a bit.

That said, Carr has been efficient with 8.3 yards per attempt and 18 touchdowns to one interception.