The Miami Hurricanes just threw some serious shade at Ohio State’s star wide receiver, Jeremiah Smith, and college football fans are absolutely loving the drama. It all started when EA Sports dropped the official cover for the new College Football 27 video game on June 2.

Miami’s own true sophomore superstar wideout, Malachi Toney, snagged a spot fit himself right on the front of the Standard Edition cover alongside Oregon quarterback Dante Moore and Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy. Naturally, the Hurricanes’ social media team couldn’t resist taking a victory lap.

So, the second EA Sports went live with the big reveal, the Miami social media admin dropped the screenshot asking, “Is your star WR on the cover of College Football 27? 🤫🙌”. Everyone in the college football world knew that 10:10 PM tweet was a direct stray aimed at Smith, who actually graced the cover of College Football 26 the previous year.

This little jab hits way deeper than a simple video game cover because of a crazy tampering reason.

Back in March 2026, rumors exploded that Miami aggressively tried to poach Jeremiah Smith from Columbus with a mind-boggling NIL collective valuation that analysts rumored was worth up to $10 million right after the Cotton Bowl. Smith publicly shut down the tampering attempts, clarifying that he “wasn’t going nowhere” and remaining loyal to the Buckeyes.

Even though Miami won this specific round of internet trash talk, Ohio State fans are quick to bring up the hard numbers from their on-field beef.

Just a few months ago, on January 1, 2026, Miami pulled off a historic 24-14 upset over the defending national champion Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Cotton Bowl.

In that game, Keionte Scott crushed Ohio State’s dream of running it back with a 72-yard interception return for a touchdown just as the Buckeyes were driving to tie the score. The matchup also brought back memories of the famous 2003 national championship game that went to double overtime, adding even more history to the rivalry.

Nonetheless, when you compare both of them, both receivers played to their fullest this past season. Miami’s Malachi Toney had one heck of a freshman season: 109 or 110 catches, 1,211 receiving yards, and 10 touchdowns, while bagging the ACC Rookie of the Year. Meanwhile, on this side, Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith has been just as impressive, recording 163 catches, nearly 2,600 yards, and 27 touchdowns in only just two seasons.

This dramatic back-and-forth is exactly why the college football offseason is so entertaining than any of the other sports, amateur or even professional. It turns a simple gaming marketing campaign into a multi-million dollar narrative between two iconic sports brands.

While Toney gets to sport his new No. 1 jersey on retail shelves globally, starting with the early access trials on July 2, 2026, Smith is rumored to hold a rare, maximum 99 overall player rating in the actual video game. Not so bad if you ask us.

Every new detail you need to know about CFB 2027

The College Football 27 game is fixing a lot of the annoying bugs from the last few years and bringing back some absolute fan-favourite features. The biggest news for old-school fans is the official return of Mascot Matchup mode.

This lets you skip the regular players and fill the entire field with giant, backflipping school mascots running standard plays and hitting each other at full speed. On top of that, the gameplay is getting a massive upgrade with smarter AI defense, meaning defensive backs will actually cover wide receivers correctly instead of letting them run free down the field.

If you love Dynasty Mode, get ready for a completely redesigned system called “The Dynasty Blueprint.” This year, the game is leaning heavily into the chaos of modern college football by adding advanced NIL deals and transfer portal poaching.

If you aren’t careful, other schools can throw massive financial packages at your star players to steal them away. Even wilder, if a head coach changes schools, a massive chunk of the roster might dynamically enter the transfer portal just to follow that coach to their new university.

For players who prefer the single-player experience, Road to Glory is shifting away from boring text menus and turning into a deep, interactive story. Leaks suggest you will get to play through full high school playoff brackets and elite All-American recruiting showcases before you even pick a college.

You will also have to carefully manage a new player health system, balancing your athlete’s physical wear and tear throughout the season so they don’t break down right before a massive playoff run. EA Sports is officially dropping the massive, full-length gameplay deep dive video on Thursday, June 4 at 8:00 PM ET to show all of these changes in action.