AP Top 25 Takeaways: Georgia-Alabama play a thrilling classic, undiminished by expanded CFP

Updated Sep. 29, 2024 10:03 a.m. ET

Associated Press

No. 2 Georgia and No. 4 Alabama played a classic Saturday night, a wild affair that included a 28-0 run by the Crimson Tide to start the game, a resilient comeback by the Bulldogs and 142 yards worth of touchdown passes in a 13-second span of the fourth quarter.

When it was done, Carson Beck and Jalen Milroe had combined for 939 total yards and seven touchdowns in a thriller between Southeastern Conference superpowers.

“Obviously, a lot happening there,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer told reporters in a contender for understatement of the year.

Yes, Alabama and Georgia could meet again, and again, in this new age of college football. Both likely will be part of the first 12-team playoff.

But nothing about the new postseason diminished a breathtaking spectacle in Tuscaloosa.

Georgia-Alabama, played seven days after the end of summer, in front of 100,000 fans and a former U.S. president, is the reason why the CFP can expand and the regular season will be just fine.

It still felt like an event, dripping with compelling 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 his best, wiping out a 28-point deficit for the Bulldogs.

Milroe stamped himself as maybe the Heisman Trophy favorite, becoming the first player with 300 yards passing, 100 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns against an AP top-five opponent, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

Ryan Williams, the spectacular 17-year-old Alabama receiver, made a spinning catch-and-run to score the winning touchdown.

And when it was over, everyone involved felt both exhilarated and exhausted.

Don't let anybody tell you that game didn't matter.

Heisman Hunter

Travis Hunter is good enough to beat the odds and win the Heisman Trophy.

Heisman winners usually play quarterback, typically for a College Football Playoff contender. Players such as Milroe and Beck.

Colorado's two-way star splits his time between wide receiver and cornerback, and while Deion Sanders' Buffaloes already have matched last season's victory total, it might be a stretch to call them a serious threat to win the Big 12 — or maybe not.

The ceiling for Hunter and CU might need to be reassessed after they went to new conference rival UCF and turned the Bounce House into the Buffs' House.

“I can't even tell you how emotional I am about these young men. And seeing what they could do when they put it all together. And seeing what we're capable of doing when we put it all together,” Sanders said.

Hunter put up a stat line like only he can, with nine catches for 89 yards and a touchdown, two tackles and an interception that prompted a Heisman pose.

Hunter routinely has logged more than 100 snaps in games as a lockdown cornerback on an improved Colorado defense and quarterback Shedeur Sanders' favorite target on offense.

Many a Heisman hopeful in September has become a footnote to the season by November, but a healthy Hunter could change the usual dynamics of the race.

Since 2000, 20 Heisman winners have been quarterbacks and most of them have played for teams that have entered the postseason with a chance to win a national title.

Hunter will be an unusual Heisman contender, but he is a unique talent. Charles Woodson won the Heisman in 1997 as a brilliant cornerback, a part-time receiver and occasional special teams weapon.

Woodson wasn't playing as much as Hunter nor at his level on both sides of the ball. Hunter will have NFL teams pondering whether to use him on offense or defense when he becomes a first-round draft pick in April.

Hunter currently is on pace for more than 100 catches and 1,000 yards receiving. His Heisman hopes are as much about how well Colorado (4-1) holds up as he does. It's early, but the Buffs go into their off week tied for first place in a Big 12 with No. 22 BYU and Texas Tech. The conference appears headed for a topsy-turvy race after preseason favorite No. 10 Utah lost at home to Arizona.

No. 23 Kansas State, which blew out No. 20 Oklahoma State, comes to Boulder on Oct. 12 for a game that no doubt will get a prime television window. Coach Prime's team is still a TV ratings machine.

That should help Hunter, too. His brilliance should continue to get a big stage as long as Colorado doesn't nosedive the way it did last season.

It's funny how things go.

Last season, CU stormed out 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 chunk of the season with injuries.

The buzz about the Buffs is building more organically this season, which could give both Colorado and Hunter staying power.

UNLV’s wild week

UNLV was the epicenter of college football for much of this week, both in conference realignment and then when its starting quarterback left the team over an NIL dispute.

With Matthew Sluka out, UNLV turned to another FCS transfer, Hajj-Malik Williams in a key Mountain West conference game against Fresno State.

“Many have expressed very strong opinions of the events of last week without full knowledge of the facts. Without full knowledge of the events of last week,” UNLV coach Barry Odom said after the game, adding the program complied with applicable rules in dealing with Sluka.

Williams, who transferred from Campbell, looked like an upgrade. He went 13 for 16 for 182 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 119 yards in a score as UNLV routed the Bulldogs — scoring one for the schools staying in the Mountain West over those departing for the relaunched Pac-12.

The Rebels are 4-0 for the first time since moving to Division I in 1978.

Upset Rebels

Lane Kiffin and Mississippi were among the winners of the offseason in college football, with an NIL-powered, 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 bullying a weak nonconference schedule and then wilted at home against a rugged Kentucky team that benefited from a little luck and a generally conservative coach loosening up.

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 plays. We didn’t close them out,” Kiffin told reporters after getting Stoopsed.

Kentucky played the low-possession, keep-away game that put the Wildcats in position to upset Georgia two weeks ago. This time though, coach Mark Stoops worked in a fourth-down go that changed the game.

There is a long way to go in a 12-team playoff, but losing to unranked teams at home in a loaded SEC is no way for Ole Miss to validate its preseason hype and truly establish itself as a national title contender.

Around the country

Ashton Jeanty figures to be part of this Heisman race all year, too. The Boise State star running back is up to 13 touchdowns in four games after leading the 25th-ranked Broncos past previously unbeaten Washington State. ... The last time Indiana was 5-0, John Pont was the coach, Harry Gonso was the 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 pass to pull away from Maryland. Next up, Indiana is at Northwestern. ... Indiana and Rutgers are a combined 9-0. ... Count Navy among the early surprises, too. The Midshipmen seem to have another star quarterback in Blake Horvath, who is the first major college quarterback since Lamar Jackson to have at least seven TD passes and seven TD runs in the first four games. Navy and Army are a combined 8-0. ... Another surprising unbeaten: Duke is 5-0 under first-year coach Manny Diaz after rallying from 20-0 down in the second half to beat rival North Carolina.... No. 1 Texas got its first SEC victory, cruising behind Arch Manning at home against Mississippi State ... No. 21 Oklahoma also broke through in the SEC, but did so in dramatic fashion by erasing an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit at Auburn. Year 2 for Hugh Freeze at Auburn has a chance to get really ugly.

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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP

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