No. 2 Georgia and No. 4 Alabama played a classic Saturday night. The Crimson Tide went on a 28-0 run to start the game, and the Bulldogs mounted a resilient comeback, racking up 142 yards worth of touchdown passes in 13 plays. -Second period of the fourth quarter.
When the work was done, Carson Beck and Jalen Milroe had combined for 939 total yards and seven touchdowns in a thriller between the Southeastern Conference superpowers.
“Obviously there’s a lot going on there,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer told reporters of this year’s understated contender.
Yes. Alabama and Georgia could meet again in the new era of college football. Both teams will likely participate in their first 12-team playoffs.
But that hasn’t diminished the breathtaking sights in Tuscaloosa for the new postseason.
Georgia-Alabama being played in front of 100,000 fans and a former U.S. president just seven days after the end of the summer is why the CFP can expand and have a decent regular season.
It still felt like an event filled with exciting storylines and epic performances.
DeBoer won his first SEC game since replacing Nick Saban, who was watching from a luxury suite instead of stalking the sideline.
Georgia’s Kirby Smart fell to 1-6 against the Crimson Tide, the only team Georgia has lost to since 2021.
Beck played one of the worst games of his career and then one of the best games to erase a 28-point deficit for the Bulldogs.
Milroe cemented himself as a Heisman Trophy favorite by becoming the first player to record 300 yards passing, 100 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns against an AP top-five opponent, according to ESPN stats. & information
Ryan Williams, a flashy 17-year-old Alabama receiver, attempted a spinning catch-and-run to score the winning touchdown.
And when it was over, everyone involved was both excited and exhausted.
Don’t let anyone tell you that games aren’t important.
Travis Hunter is good enough to beat the odds and win the Heisman Trophy.
Heisman winners typically play quarterback for College Football Playoff contenders. Players like Milroe and Beck.
Colorado’s two-way star is splitting time between wide receiver and cornerback, and Deion Sanders’ Buffaloes have already matched last season’s win total, but calling them a serious threat to win the Big 12 might be a stretch.
Hunter and CU’s cap may have to be reevaluated after they go to new conference rival UCF and turn the Bounce House into the Buffs’ House.
“I can’t express in words how emotional I am for these young people. And we looked at what we could do when we put it all together. And when we put this all together, we saw what we could do,” Sanders said.
Hunter put up a stat line that only he could, including nine catches for 89 yards and a touchdown, two tackles and an interception that prompted a Heisman poser.
Hunter regularly logged more than 100 snaps in games as a locking cornerback against the improved Colorado defense and quarterback Shedeur Sanders’ favorite offensive target.
While many Heisman prospects in September have become footnotes to the season by November, a healthy Hunter could change the normal dynamics of the race.
Since 2000, 20 Heisman winners have been quarterbacks, and most of them played on teams that made the postseason with a chance to win a national title.
Hunter would be an unusual Heisman contender, but he has a unique talent. Charles Woodson won the Heisman in 1997 as an outstanding cornerback, part-time receiver, and occasional special teams weapon.
Woodson didn’t play as well as Hunter and wasn’t up to his level on both sides of the ball. Hunter will force NFL teams to consider whether to use him on offense or defense when he becomes a first-round draft pick in April.
Hunter is currently on pace for over 100 catches and over 1,000 yards receiving. His Heisman hopes may hinge on whether Colorado (4-1) holds up as well as he does. It’s still early, but the Buffs enter the week tied for first place in the Big 12 with BYU and Texas Tech. The conference appears to be heading into a topsy-turvy race after preseason favorite Utah, ranked 10th, lost at home to Arizona.
No. 23 Kansas State, which defeated No. 20 Oklahoma State, comes to Boulder on Oct. 12 in what will undoubtedly be the highest-rated game on television. The Coach Prime team is still a TV ratings machine.
It will also be helpful for hunters. As long as Colorado doesn’t tank like last season, his outstanding talent will continue to dominate the big stage.
Funny how things work out.
Last season, CU got off to a 3-0 start and spent several weeks as a ranked team. It was all a mirage. The Buffs finished 4-8 and Hunter missed a significant portion of the season due to injury.
Rumors about the Buffs are building more organically this season, which could give both Colorado and Hunter a boost.
UNLV has been at the epicenter of college football for most of this week, amid conference realignment and its starting quarterback leaving the team over an NIL dispute.
With Matthew Sluka out, UNLV turned to another FCS transfer, Hajj-Malik Williams, for a key Mountain West Conference game against Fresno State.
“Many people have expressed very strong opinions about the events of the past week without sufficient knowledge of the facts. “Without complete knowledge of last week’s incident,” UNLV coach Barry Odom said after the game, adding that the program had complied with applicable rules in handling Sluka.
Williams, a transfer from Campbell, seemed like an upgrade. He went 13-for-16 for 182 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 119 yards for the score as UNLV routed the Bulldogs. One point more for a school staying in the Mountain West than a school leaving for the relaunched Pac-12.
The Rebels went 4-0 for the first time since moving to Division I in 1978.
Lane Kiffin and Mississippi were among the college football offseason winners with a NIL-based All-Star transfer portal class that helped the Rebels reach their best preseason ranking since Archie Manning was a Heisman Trophy candidate.
No. 6 Ole Miss spent four weeks harassing a weak non-conference schedule, languishing at home against a solid Kentucky team that benefited from a bit of luck and the laxity of its typically conservative coach.
To Kiffin’s credit, he tried to downplay the Rebels’ 4-0 start by an average score of 55-5.
“We didn’t make the play. We didn’t close it out,” Kiffin told reporters after being Stoopsed.
Kentucky had a low-possession game two weeks ago that put the Wildcats in position to upset Georgia. But this time, coach Mark Stoops changed the play on fourth down.
There’s a long way to go in the 12-team playoffs, but losing to an unranked team at home in a loaded SEC situation would allow Ole Miss to validate the preseason hype and truly establish itself as a national title contender. There is no way to do it.
Ashton Jeanty is also expected to be in this Heisman race all year long. The Boise State star running back is up to 13 touchdowns in four games after leading the 25th-ranked Broncos past previously undefeated Washington State. … The last time Indiana was 5-0, John Pont was coach, Harry Gonso was quarterback, and the Hoosiers played in the Rose Bowl for the only time in program history. Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers improved to 5-0 behind Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke, who threw three TD passes to leave Maryland. Indiana is up next at Northwestern. … Indiana and Rutgers are a combined 9-0. … Among the early surprises was the Navy. The Midshipmen appear to have another star quarterback in Blake Horvath. He is the first major college quarterback since Lamar Jackson to have at least seven TD passes and seven TD runs in his first four games. Navy and Army combined are 8-0. … Another surprising undefeated: Duke is 5-0 under first-year coach Manny Diaz after trailing 20-0 in the second half to beat rival North Carolina…. No. 1 Texas is cruising to first SEC title Victory was achieved. Arch Manning catches behind at home against Mississippi State. No. 21 Oklahoma also broke through in the SEC, but did so in dramatic fashion by overcoming an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit at Auburn. Hugh Freeze’s second year at Auburn has the potential to get really ugly.
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