AP Top 25 Takeaway: Georgia-Alabama is a thrilling classic game, unchanged by expanded CFP

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

When it did, Carson Beck and Jalen Milro combined for 939 total yards and seven touchdowns in a thriller between the Southeastern Conference superpowers.

“Obviously, there's a lot going on,” Alabama coach Kallen DeBoer told reporters as a contender for shortstop of the year.

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

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

Georgia-Alabama, seven days after the end of the summer, played in front of 100,000 fans and a former US president, is why the CFP could be extended and the regular season would be fine.

It still felt like an event, dripping with compelling storylines and epic performances.

DeBoer won his first SEC game after replacing Nick Saban, who was watching from a luxury suite instead of the sidelines.

Georgia's Kirby Smart fell to 1-6 against the Crimson Tide, Georgia's only loss since 2021.

Beck had one of the worst games of his career and then one of his best, erasing a 28-point deficit for the Bulldogs.

Milrow stamped himself as a Heisman Trophy favorite, becoming the first player with 300 yards passing, 100 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns against AP top-five opponents, according to ESPN Stats & Facts.

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

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

Don't let anyone tell you the game isn't important.

Heisman Hunter

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

Heisman winners usually play quarterback, usually for a College Football Playoff contender. Players like Milro and Beck.

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

Hunter and CU's ceiling may need to be re-evaluated after moving into new conference competition UCF and turned the bounce house into the buffs house.

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

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

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

Many Heisman hopefuls in September have become season footnotes by November, but a healthy Hunter could change the natural dynamics of the race.

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

Hunter would 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 well as Hunter or at his level on either side of the ball. Hunter will have NFL teams considering 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 1,000 receiving yards. How well his Heisman hopes hold up in Colorado (4-1). It's early, but the Buffs enter their off week in a Big 12 tie for first place with No. 22 BYU and Texas Tech. The conference appears headed for a topsy-turvy race after preseason favorite No. 10 Utah lost to Arizona.

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

This should help Hunter as well. As long as Colorado doesn't take a nosedive like it did last season, his talent will continue to get a bigger stage.

It's funny how things go.

Last season, CU started 3-0 and spent several weeks as the ranked team. It was all a mirage. The Buffs finished 4-8 and Hunter missed part of the season due to injury.

The buzz about the Buffs is building more organically this season, which could fuel both Colorado and the Hunters.

Wild week at UNLV

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

With Matthew Sluka out, UNLV turns to another FCS transfer, Hodge-Malik Williams, in a Mountain West Conference game. against Fresno State.

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

Williams looked like an upgrade from Campbell. He went 13 for 16 for 182 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 119 yards as UNLV routed the Bulldogs — a score for schools in the Mountain West ahead of those heading to the reopened Pac-12.

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

Disrupted Rebels

Lane Kiffin and Mississippi were among college football's offseason winners, an NIL-driven, all-star transfer portal class that helped the Rebels to their best preseason ranking since Archie Manning was a Heisman Trophy candidate.

No. 6 Ole Miss spent four weeks bullying a weak non-conference schedule and then Wounded at home against a rugged Kentucky team That little luck and generally conservative coaches have benefited from relaxation.

To Kiffin's credit, he tried to undercut the Rebels' 4-0 star by an average score of 55-5.

“We didn't make plays. We didn't shut them down,” Kiffin told reporters after the layoff.

Kentucky plays the low-possession, keep-away game that upset Georgia two weeks ago. This time though, coach Mark Stoops worked on a fourth-down go that changed the game.

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

all over the country

Ashton Jeanty figures to be part of this Heisman race all year, too. The star running back accounted for 13 touchdowns in four games after leading the way The 25th-ranked Broncos previously had undefeated 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 first and only time in program history. Curt Cignetti's Hoosiers improve to 5-0 from Ohio transfer Curtis Rourke, who threw three TD passes Pull away from Maryland. Next, northwest to Indiana. … Indiana and Rutgers A combined 9-0. … Count the Navy among the early surprises. The Midshipmen appear to have another star quarterback Blake Horvath, First major college quarterback since Lamar Jackson to throw at least seven TD passes and seven TD runs in first four games. Navy and Army are a combined 8-0. … Another surprising undefeated: Duke after rallying from 5-0 under first-year coach Manny Diaz Trailed 20-0 in the second half to beat rival North Carolina.… No. 1 Texas got its first SEC win, 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 has a chance to be really ugly for Hugh Freeze at Auburn.

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

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