From Dixieland Delight to Dixieland Fright and back again, Alabama versus Georgia gave us an early game-of-the-year contender as Kalen DeBoer made his first big statement as the Crimson Tide’s coach. That game had everything, and so did the weekend that was in college football.
There were major upsets (down goes Ole Miss), insane comebacks (Oklahoma and Duke) and just pure chaos (whatever that was at the end of Miami and Virginia Tech).
It’s a Sunday morning, so you know the drill: Let’s dive into College Football Overtime and explore a zany Week 5.
THE BIG TAKEAWAY: NICK SABAN’S FINAL GOODBYE PRESENT
In order to knock off the No. 2 team in the country, Alabama turned toward its pair of No. 2s.
On the offensive side of the ball, Alabama needed to respond after blowing a 23-point second-half lead. Georgia had the lead for the first time all night when Jalen Milroe saw 1-on-1 coverage on the outside for his favorite target: True freshman Ryan Williams.
That No. 2, all of 17 years old, came back to the ball, catch the ball at its highest point and had the wherewithal to land, spin toward back the field and then jump cut two Georgia defenders and outran them (showing remarkably easy acceleration) for a 75-yard touchdown.
That Georgia lead, the first it had all game? It lasted 13 seconds.
But Alabama still needed a stop. It hadn’t earned one in three straight drives. It didn’t look promising as Georgia marched into the red zone.
Then Carson Beck‘s scorching right arm made his first real mistake of the half: He slightly underthrew a jump ball to jump-ball specialist Colbie Young. Alabama’s other No. 2, true freshman Zabien Brown, went up to snatch the game-ending interception.
There are many reasons Alabama won this game 41-34. This is what DeBoer does as a head coach with a now 13-2 record the past four years against ranked teams. But, at least in the final moments, DeBoer can thank Nick Saban for the victory.
Saban’s final goodbye present in retirement was Alabama’s 2024 class. It was No. 2 in the 247Sports Composite Team Rankings and addressed some roster holes that were of concern for the Tide, specifically at cornerback, where the Tide signed a trio of five-star recruits (including Brown) and at receiver, where the Tide struggled to find a true No. 1 option the past few seasons after a nuclear run from 2017 to 2021.
The wide receiver question is solved by Williams, who decommitted after Saban retired but was brought back into the boat by DeBoer.
Have you heard he’s just 17-years-old? Broadcasters have hit people over the head with that fact this season. But it really is remarkable. Williams is averaging an absurd 27 yards per catch this season on 17 receptions. He’s the Tide’s leading receiver and arguably the best deep threat in the sport. He just makes it look easy. He’s smooth with an easy acceleration.
History is littered with cautionary tales when it comes to reclassification. Losing that final year of high school development matters. But it doesn’t with someone like Williams, who is an exception in every way.
He dominated a high level of high school football in Alabama as a high school sophomore and junior; the first underclassman to win Mr. Football in state history. Now? He’s doing the same thing in the SEC.
The cornerback room isn’t solved for Alabama. You saw some of that in the second half as Carson Beck went to work with 339 passing yards. But Brown’s presence (he held Beck to a 50% completion rate against him, per PFF), along with fellow five-star true freshman Jaylen Mbakwe, helped Alabama survive a second half torrent.
Saban left an overwhelming large shadow in Tuscaloosa. But he did not leave the cupboard bare. His last gasp as head coach, the 2024 class, is helping immediately lift DeBoer and the Tide.
New coach, similarly stacked roster (No. 1 in the 2024 Team Talent Composite). The Tide are a national contender yet again.
REPORT CARD
A. UNLV
The Rebels found themselves thrust into the center of the college football universe Wednesday when their starting quarterback, Matthew Sluka, suddenly announced he’d redshirt and planned to exit the program over an NIL dispute.
It was a bombshell. The starting quarterback of the No. 23 team in the Coaches Poll, which had already notched two Power Four wins this season, left the program midseason.
That could have broken some teams. Instead, UNLV whipped a good Fresno State team, 59-14, and moved to 4-0.
Sluka’s replacement, a fellow transfer Hajj-Malik Williams, didn’t miss a beat as QB1. He finished 13-of-16 passing for 182 yards and three touchdowns while running for 119 yards and a score. Those are objectively better results than Sluka produced. Sluka hadn’t finished a game with more than 161 passing yards this season. He was completing just 43.8% of his passes.
You could argue UNLV upgraded with Williams, a transfer from Campbell. Some folks in the player personnel space told us this week that did UNLV upgrade by making the switch.
We’ll see how that works out the rest of the year. But you have to respect the way the Rebels dealt with the ultimate distraction. UNLV is on a short list of G-5 playoff contenders at this point.
