Hit or Miss: How did we rank this season's biggest stars?
Did we get it right or did we get it wrong?
Each week during the college football season we will pick five players who had outstanding weeks and look at their careers so far and determine if our rankings were a hit or a miss.
Here are this week’s standouts.
Mark Pszonak contributed to this report
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MORE FARRELL: Contenders & Pretenders | Thoughts on Mike Leach's rant | Is Jalen Hurts the next Lamar Jackson?
CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals100 | Position | Team | State
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Sean Clifford – Penn State
The skinny: Sean Clifford avoided any recruiting drama by making a commitment to Penn State during the summer leading up to his junior season. He also held offers from West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Michigan State and Louisville at the time of his decision. Clifford waited his turn in Happy Valley, as Trace McSorley was the unquestioned leader of the Penn State offense during his time on campus. With McSorley moving onto the NFL, Clifford has quickly taken over the offense. He enjoyed his best collegiate game of his career on Friday night at Maryland by completing 26 of 31 passes for 398 yards passing and three touchdowns. He also added a rushing touchdown during the easy victory.
Farrell’s take: HIT. As the No 8 quarterback in his class and No. 161 overall, Clifford is playing the way we expected him to play. He was always a kid with good leadership skills and who did everything well but didn’t jump out in any one category. But I like the way he can extend the play and keep his eyes downfield and we saw a lot of that in high school. I’m happy with his ranking.
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MORE HIT OR MISS: Week 4 stars | Week 3 stars
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CeeDee Lamb – Oklahoma
The skinny: CeeDee Lamb initially commitment to Oklahoma, but decommitted to take a closer look at a few other programs. Texas A&M and Ole Miss came the closest to challenging the Sooners, but at the end he found his way back to Norman by re-committing to Oklahoma during the summer leading up to his senior season.
Playing with two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks during his first two seasons in Norman, Lamb prospered. This fall, he has continued to blossom with Jalen Hurts in control of the offense. This continued on Saturday, as he destroyed the Texas Tech secondary with seven receptions for 185 yards and three touchdowns.
Farrell’s take: MISS. We had Lamb as a top 10 wide receiver and Rivals100 prospect but I always felt, and wrote, that we might have underrated him and that he could be a guy we will regret not making a five-star. He’s one of the best receivers in college football and will be a first-rounder so he’s going to prove to us we de-valued him a bit.
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DeVonta Smith – Alabama
The skinny: DeVonta Smith took January official visits to Alabama, Miami, Florida State and LSU before committing to the Tide on National Signing Day. Alabama was considered the heavy leader for quite some time, but both the Seminoles and in-state Tigers made a charge at the end.
Part of an absolutely loaded wide receiver group in Tuscaloosa, Smith is occasionally the forgotten man. On Saturday, he again proved that he has as much talent and potential as any receiver on the roster with a memorable 11 receptions for 274 yards and five touchdowns.
Farrell’s take: HIT. We had Smith as a top 50 player in the nation coming out of high school and he’s starting to live up to that. Let’s not forget he caught the game-winning touchdown to win a national title as well and he’s doing well with the best group of wide receivers in college football and in the many years I’ve covered the sport. Smith was always a smooth route runner with breakaway speed and teams are learning he’s a hard one to check.
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Julian Okwara – Notre Dame
The skinny: Julian Okwara announced a top five of Notre Dame, Georgia, Clemson, Michigan and Ole Miss before committing to the Irish in late April. With his brother, Romeo Okwara, playing in South Bend, the Irish were considered the favorite leading up to his decision.
After a breakout 2018 season, Okwara has continued to impress this fall. He displayed his full potential on Saturday against undefeated Virginia with three tackles for a loss, three sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
Farrell’s take: MISS. Okay, it was two weeks ago I did a video saying we hit Okwara’s ranking on the nose, but I’ve changed my mind. He’s emerging as a surefire first-rounder and his pass rushing skills are off the charts. So having him as a four-star was nice but he was outside the Rivals250 and that’s going to look a bit off. He was super skinny coming out of high school but he has filled out well and he’s such a great technician. He’s fun to watch.
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Chuba Hubbard – Oklahoma State
The skinny: Chuba Hubbard piled up approximately 25 offers throughout the spring before committing to Oklahoma State in early May, over offers from Auburn, Oklahoma, Georgia, Texas A&M and Tennessee.
After redshirting in 2017 and spending a majority of the 2018 season as Justice Hill’s backup, Hubbard flourished when Hill was hampered with an injury. Now as the lead back in the offense, Hubbard has quickly become one of the more dynamic offensive weapons in the country. That was again on display on Saturday against Kansas State, with 296 yards and one touchdown on 25 carries during the Cowboys' victory.
Farrell’s take: HIT. Hubbard has been awesome for Oklahoma State and, like Okwara, was a four-star outside the Rivals250. So why is he a hit? He’s a Canadian prospect and they are very hard to evaluate and project – and we had him as an athlete who could have played many positions. He had a lot of offers but some teams, big ones, also showed no interest, so he wasn’t a slam dunk to colleges. We liked him a lot and he’s played better than his ranking, but the fact that he’s from Canada who we ranked as a four-star makes him a hit.