Transcript of CFB Week 5 Reaction: Alabama vs Georgia was insane, but is the rest of the SEC "mid"?

Playoff Base is back. I'm Derek Van Ryper, host of the athletics Rates & Barrel's podcast. Join Eino Sarris. Mr. Statsky. Richaroli. How you like them apples? Trevor May and I, as we dig deep into the key matchups and advanced stats driving the critical decisions throughout the postseason. From the first crack of the bat in the wild card round until the last pitch of the World Series, we have you covered. Check out the Rates & Barrel's podcast every day during the postseason, wherever you get your podcast. Hockey is back on ice, and The Athletic Hockey Show has the game covered four days a week, all season long. Hear from The Athletic's NHL Writers and Insiders Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Plus, keep up with the game's future stars on the Friday Prospect series. Whether we're diving deep on one topic, discussing the latest news, or breaking down last night's OT winner, you can't miss a single episode. Listen to The Athletic Hockey Show wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Until Saturday, the Athletics College Football Podcast. I'm David Uben.

I'm Chris Vanini, fellow Senior here at The Athletic.

Damian Harris, former University of Alabama running back. Checking in, checking in.

If you can see us on YouTube, you can see Damian brought the Saban straw hat to the show today. The Bama pull over on a big weekend, a big night of football. Damian, is your blood pressure down a little bit? Are we doing okay?

Not even, man. I'm still fired up. You see, I got it on me. You see, I got the hat. I got the pullover. I got the Bama socks on. I'm not going to show them to you just because I don't want to get embarrassed. But that's all right. That's all right because I'm Fire it up.

Week 5 was the most exciting weekend of the season today. That game, Alabama and Georgia, a big reason for it. We're getting into that game a little bit later. Talking about where do Alabama and Georgia fall now on Chris's Athletic 134, ranking every single team in College football. And what does that first SEC win mean for Alabama and Kaylyn De Boer? And should we be worried about Georgia? And of course, did this game have lower stakes now with a 12-team payoff? We're going to break down that incredible game later in the show. And the Big 12, we knew it was going to be chaotic, and the chaos is here. Utah and Oklahoma State get pushed around, and a Kansas State fan has a relationship with the burrito that just is not fit for human consumption. Miami and Notre Dame, they dodged upset bids, but someone who did not dodge an upset bid. Number 6, Ole Miss, and that's where we're going to start today's show. We got a special voicemail from a long-time listener, Sad Husker Nate, who's got a bone to pick with the Rebs and the SEC. Let us know on the Until Saturday phone line.

Let's start there. Sad Husker Nate, what do you got to say?

Dave, Chris, Dame.

It's Sad Husker Nate again. Way back in the spring and summer when everyone was like, Ole Miss is a playoff team. Mizzou is a playoff team.

At what point do we start saying the SEC logo doesn't actually mean anything?

Except for Bama and Georgia, the SEC is, as the kids say, mid. I would know. I'm a teacher.

These mid-SEC teams running around like they're world beaters.

But they never actually beat anyone important. Have a good Saturday. And I am still very sad because if you watch that first half of the Huskers game, I'm pretty sure it's that football and maybe humanity back like 70 years. It was that bad. I like that guy, man. We love hearing from Satta today. If you guys want to leave us a voicemail, you can do that at 316-462-9852. That is 316-462-9852. We're going to play your reaction, your takes, your angry rants, your sad missives leaving a stadium, whatever you got, we love to hit those up Monday on our reaction shows. Let's break this into two parts here because we have Ole Miss tripping up as they're facing their first real test of the season. We'll get to this question. Let's start with Ole Miss here. They lose to Kentucky, 20 to 17 at home. A lot of talk about Ole Miss coming into the season. They were going all in. One of the first teams we've seen in the NIL era to do that. They got a ton of transfers. They lose Quinchaud Judkins, of course, but picked up Rashaud Amos. They still had some pieces in the running game.

They're fine. There. They lose the time of possession battle. They fumbled in the red zone. Whift on a game-tying field goal. It did not look like a playoff team yesterday, but Chris, when you looked at what you saw from Ole Miss, what did you see if we didn't see a playoff team?

I saw an Ole Miss team that is just not physical. I saw an O'Miss team that is just not physical. I saw an O'Miss team that was They were getting pushed around on the offensive line. I think Lane Kiffin knew that coming in because on College Game Day, when he was talking to the crew, he was very worried about Kentucky's defensive line. In the end, I mean, Ole Miss, they only rushed for less than 100 yards. They didn't throw the ball as well as you would expect against a Kentucky pass defense. It's not great, and I think they were missing one of their better corners. We're nearing fraud watch, I think, for Ole Miss, because we knew this wasn't an elite roster coming in. Part of the reason everybody had Ole Miss so high, and the reason Ole Miss went all in on everything was because the schedule is very favorable. But you're not supposed to lose to Kentucky, man. Kentucky was able to run the ball, control the clock. Ole Miss didn't have the ball very much. They get that fourth down late. Kentucky throws a deep, converts it, leads to a shutdown. Just a terrible, terrible loss of your Ole Miss in your playoff, folks.

I think major question marks about the state of this team after this loss.

We'll get to our locks of the week and our trustful picks of the week as well. You guys both had this game. Damian, you called Ole Miss and Clayton Kiffin a point factory. The factory was closed down. Must have been some real financial troubles.

O'mis was favored by 17 and a half, by the way. 17 and a half points.

O'mis was favorite by. Heavily favorite in this game. It gets a Kentucky team has been pretty uneven. They ran for three yards carry, only converted one of 10 third downs. Damon, you played under Lane Kiffin. The offense could not get it going at any point. What did you see for why that offense that we've seen do some great things? And has been a point factory for more games than not under Lane Kiffin get shut down and production slowed to a halt in this game? What happened there?

They got hit in the mouth from the start of the game to the end of the game. Play after play, down after down. Kentucky just smacked them upside the head And Ole Miss never did anything. I said this all day yesterday. Some people loved it, some people didn't like it so much. Their front runners, Lane Kiffin, Jackson Dart, again, listen, I'm sorry to call you guys out personally, Lane. Hopefully, I have a long in this business, and hopefully you want to talk to me one day because we was cool back in the day. We still cool, in my opinion. It's no disrespect. I'm just telling the truth. You got punched in the mouth. And what do front runners do when they get hit in the mouth and they can't play from ahead and they can't just control the game and let Lane Kiffin just circle something like he's playing Bingo or something and trying to hit on a plate? They just got pushed around. Lane Kiffin had no answers. Jackson Dart had no answers. It was sad to see. But again, whenever I think of Lane Kiffin, I'm not really surprised. Hell, the reason why he couldn't...

The reason that never happened in Alabama was because we had some dogs. Clearly, Jackson Dart and Frosted Tips, they ain't got no dogs over there. They got some front runners.

Ole Miss goes one for 10 on third down. Kentucky doubles them up in time of possession. Other than Trey Miller, nobody did anything for this Ole Miss offense.

We talked about the lane Kiffin offense and this points factory. People always say you can only call, you can only execute what you can block. They couldn't block him. It starts with Deion Walker, the guy 6'6, 350. He's number 17 on Dane Broogler's preseason big board, a guy that's going to hear his name called very early in the NFL draft. The dude moves unbelievably well for his size, and Ole Miss couldn't handle him. We talked a lot about their portal moves and Ole Miss becoming an experiment for what the new world of college football can be. They brought in 25 transfers, the number one transfer portal class in the country last year. And there was some offensive linemen in that class. They added just Julius Buhlo and Nate Kaleppo from Washington. They added Diego Pounds from UNC. But that group really got exposed. I think it wasn't so much a lack of composure or them making these crazy mistakes. If you can't block them up front, You're going to have a long day and you're probably going to score 17 points. To me, that's what stood out is Kentucky, who has a good defensive line, I think they'll see better defensive lines in the SEC, really got exposed.

That was hard to believe. I think that that's a group for all the talk about the defensive front and keeping Jackson dart and adding juice wells to the roster and the shuffles at running back. We probably didn't talk enough about this offensive line overall.

Yeah, four sacks allowed by Ole Miss in this game, by the way. I've got Ole Miss dropping down to number 20 in my 134 rankings from being right at number 6 because they haven't done anything. They beat Furman, Middle Tennessee, Wake Forest, and Southern. Then the one time you play a team with a pulse, you lose. They're lucky to be even ranked in the top 25 at this point. That's based on preseason expectations of them. You can beat all those FCS and G5 teams all you want, but you have to do a lot more than that with a schedule coming up that includes a lot more tougher games in Kentucky.

He always doesn't get credit until December. Nobody talks about him, but we're looking at Mark Stoops, and it seems like he's going to have another year where he overachives a little bit. Now, let's get to the other part of Sat Husker Nate's question, which might have something to do with Kentucky maybe overachieving this year. Is the SEC mid, as the kids and Shador Sanders would suggest? Listen, the top of the league, I really don't think is. I think the question is when you get to the second class of the SEC, I think that's a fair question. But you look around, I'm not so sure, and there's always people that want us... When the SEC, when there's a crack in the armor, people always want to jump in and say, Every time. People just assume it's the best league. It's assume it's the best league. When it's NFL draft time, those things usually come up again. Then the SEC The SEC says, Hey, what happened to we were overrated? But let's run through some numbers here. The SEC, nine and six against Power Four opponents, four and four against ranked non-conference teams, Vandy and Mississippi State at the bottom of the League have losses to Georgia State and Toledo.

So Auburn, they lose to Cal. We mentioned Vandy. Missouri, a miss field goal away from almost losing to that Vandy team. They struggled with Boston College. Missouri is another team that if you want to use the F word referring to them, we will see. They have not looked sharp the last couple of weeks. So I'm willing to entertain the discussion around the middle of the league. The top of the league, no. The top of the league is as good as advertised. We We saw that with Georgia Bama. We've seen that with what Texas has done. Tennessee still has something to prove. We'll see how good they really are, but they look like one of the five best teams in the country. Chris, I think they were the four of the top five teams in your rankings.

No. They were They were the top four teams in my ranking.

The top four teams.

The top four teams are the SEC teams. Look, Texas goes to Michigan and plasters them. Georgia plasters Clemson. Bama does what it did to Georgia, and Tennessee looks really good. Those are my top four right now. That's not a slide against Ohio State and some others. We just haven't seen Ohio State play one of those games yet. When they will, they'll get in that conversation. A league is always defined by its top teams at the end of the day. You want to go top to bottom. Last year, the SEC was not very good last year on the whole, but they ended up getting Alabama in. We were this close to not having an SEC team in the playoff last year, and it arguably should have happened. It would have been fair if it had happened. I literally argued that. You didn't call them.

You did write that.

It doesn't matter at this point, that's last year's conversation. But a league is ultimately... The SEC became the SEC because it won however many national championships in a row. So yeah, Mississippi State's terrible and it's blown up by Toledo. Vanderbilt lost to Georgia State. But those are not the teams that define the SEC. It's always those teams at the top.

For the record, I did watch the College of Ball semifinals last year, and I did see two current SEC teams lose to two current Big Ten teams. Just saying. Anyway, let's keep it moving. So Ole Miss went all in on the portal, has had a rough year. Louisville also goes in on the portal, and Notre Dame has a portal quarterback. They went head to head on Saturday. Notre Dame wins, hangs on, wins that game 31-24. They score on Their first three drives jumped out to a 21-7 lead, but then the remainder of their drives looked like this fumble, punt, field goal, halftime, punt, punt, turnover on downs, breakdown, punt. The offense is a work in progress, but we still had Raleigh Leonard have two touch downs of 30 plus yards. Chris, where do you put Notre Dame in your rankings? Are the Irish going to sniff the playoff despite the Northern Illinois loss? Can they creep up there?

God, I hope not.

I've got Notre Dame up to number 18. They're not in that at-large spot yet, but this was a win you needed to have. It helped the Texas A&M beat Arkansas on the same day, so they continued to be right around that ranked period. But Louisville gave this game away. They had some killer turnovers. The fumbles, there were, I think, three or four fumbles combined in the first quarter between these teams. Three of them were lost, two of them were on Louisville. They muffed a kickoff at one point. It was a real just comedy of errors that Louisville should have... And despite all that, they still had the ball and a chance to win at the end of the game. They couldn't get it done. So it's a game that Notre Dame could not lose, and they didn't lose. And the offense was okay. And you got away with some stuff because of those turnovers. But it's a win you got. You're up to number 18. You're back in that playoff discussion at this point. And this was one of the probably two toughest games maybe left on the schedule, and they got it done.

You guys want to hear how it Real quick. Please do.

Those green jerseys are absolutely horrendous.

Those are just some of the ugliest jerseys I have ever seen in my entire life. I was with somebody- Under Armor.

Oh, my God. Under Armor is not in the green, right? My biggest problem with them was the white pants. The white pants with the green jersey. It's all ugly.

I thought it was a really bad look. It's all ugly. It's crazy because Notre Dame are the fighting Irish, and Irish represents green. You would think that they would be able to get it right somehow, but they haven't. They haven't. It was just horrible to look at, honestly. I was with somebody watching the game yesterday, and they were like, Oh, man, wouldn't it be really cool if they had green socks to match the green jersey? I was like, Absolutely the hell not. How could you take more of this putrid green?

This is awful. I told Chris, it looked like Marshall.

It was so bad.

It was not like Marshall.

It was so bad. I'm going to say this, too. Clearly, this was a hot take yesterday because it took some heat for it. But Notre Dame shouldn't be a playoff team because there shouldn't be 12 playoff teams. That's my stance, and I'm sticking to it. Chris, I respect your rankings. I respect the analysis.

They're not in the playoff.

I know, but I respect the fact that we got there and we're mentioning how they're injured and working their way. What we saw from... What we've seen from Texas, again, and this isn't even just an SEC thing. I want to clarify. I'm talking about the best teams in college football, which is Texas, Alabama, Georgia, in no order. However, Ohio State, obviously, and Tennessee. All five of those teams, I can confidently say, unless the game just flipped upside down and whatever, I would bet the house that those teams would smoke Notre Dame 10 out of 10. I'm sorry. I would agree. But they might see you. I had to get that out there. Why? Why, why, why?

Just wait till we get to the Big 12, by the way. Oh, my God.

Some people talk about, Oh, it should be eight teams. Yeah, maybe that would be better than 12. But again, I really don't like that we even have to... In our jobs, we have to think of if Notre Dame could potentially get a spot to get absolutely blown the hell out by Alabama or Georgia or or just somebody else. You know what I mean?

It just it grows me. I think at the end of the day, if you talk about the 12-team playoff, I don't think the results are going to be any different. But I do like that there's a lot more relevance in chasing playoff spots, that these conference races matter a lot more in terms of forming the field. I like that. You can decide more things on the field, fewer things in a conference room. I like that aspect of it. Real quick before we move on, though. Louisville has added a bunch of portal spots we've added. We talked about that. Jacory Books comes over from Alabama. Our guy Colin Lacy came back from a collarbone break. He had a nice day as well. Then, of course, Tyler Shuck from Texas Tech comes over. But they're also trying to rebuild the offensive line a little bit as well. Peter Nigra comes over, Monroe Mills, Jonathan Mendoza, all additions to the portal. That's hard. They don't get as much press as Colorado, a team that obviously is trying to rebuild their offensive line in the portal. But that's a difficult thing to do. We haven't seen anybody do that successfully, and building that chemistry can be really, really difficult.

We're seeing some of that, especially with the defense, as good as Notre Dames. Elsewhere in the ACC, Friday night, Miami. Miami. Miami was playing with fire, plays against the Virginia Tech team. Then in the preseason, we thought was going to compete for an ACC title. At this point, the way the ACC looks, Miami and Clemson look head and shoulders above the rest of the league. But Virginia Tech, despite the fact that they don't look like a team capable of getting in the payoff, they do seem like a team good enough to ruin it for everybody else. They absolutely gave Miami's defense fits. 206 rush yards, two rushing touch downs are averaging 6 yards of carry. Some weird decisions. We had a Brent-Pri fake field goal that backfired. Virginia Tech capitalizes on Miami's turnovers for 14 points. Kam Ward had a really nice game. Also had some confounding decisions. It was the full Kam Ward experience that we've seen. The guy can make some unbelievable plays, some crazy throws, but is also good for a couple tosses a game where you're like, I don't know what you saw there, and that's a huge mistake. But Miami survives.

The final play we got to talk about, Dequan Philton at Virginia Tech comes out with a huge heel Mary. He catches it, but There's eight bodies in the back of the end zone, and they call it a touch down on the field after some delay. They go review. Here's what the ACC call said after they reversed it, said it was incomplete, gave Miami the win, kept Miami undefeated, and ignited many many, many conspiracy theories. Here's what the ACC said, During the review process of the last play of Virginia Tech at Miami, it was determined that the loose ball was touched by a Miami player while he was out of bounds, which makes it an incomplete pass and immediately ends the play. Miami defensive back, Dylan Day had jarred it loose and was out of balance when he recovered the football, and that resulted in an incomplete pass. Chris, am I being too harsh to say that you're guessing?

Well, I was surprised they called it a countdown on the field. That did not look clear at all.

That was guessing. They didn't seem like they had a good guess.

No, not at all. Then you go into, All right, is it enough to overturn? I couldn't tell if he caught it or not or when he did, but the explanation that they didn't give till after the fact, the explanation the ref should have announced, which was a correct call, that a Miami player, while the ball was moving around, was out of bound and touched it. Because the Virginia Tech guy catch it, he's laying on top of somebody else while he's trying to catch it. A Miami guy's out of bounds, touches it, it's incomplete. The second that guy touches it. I think that was a good call. They didn't explain it well, and it was a real mess of how they handled that. But do you say, Hey, you call it a countdown so you can review it and you do all that thing? I think the way they executed it was weird, but they ultimately got the right call, so I'm not going to be too up and arms about it.

Do they ever get to a point where, and this is just a make believe scenario, but for situations like this, because the process in reviewing it and the miscommunication between obviously coaches players, everybody.

Why can't they get to a point where if there's a call that's just that up in the air and you just absolutely don't know, because we're sitting here talking about, they were just guessing, whether you called it a countdown. It was a guess. Can they just go and be like, We just need to go to video review. Is that a bad idea? To where it's like, you don't have to make a call because there's so many factors, and obviously, all these officials have so many different angles. Instead of immediately giving a signal, just get together, talk, and then get on the mic and be like, Hey, after discussion, we need to go to video review. That way, you don't have people thinking, All right, we just won the game, and then you're ripping away from them or vice versa.

They were incentivized to let it play out.

Sometimes there's a fumbal and a guy returns for a countdown, you're like, I didn't think that was a fumbal. They do that. So then if it's a countdown, it's automatically reviewed. And so that is the incentive to... If you're not sure, lean one way because we're going to go to review anyway. That is the unofficial to officiate it. That is what they're doing. Real quick, last thing on this, Virginia Tech, Brent Pry. I mean, buddy, one in 10 in one score games now. Decisions that are very strange. It wasn't the fake field goal that I was bothered with is that it was third and three. If you were going to fake it, just run the ball with Tootin, who was having a hell of a game. Yeah, he was awesome. Just run it twice and go for it on fourth down instead of doing the fake field goal. They called the time out late in the first half when they get sacked before the Virginia Tech field goal. That gives Miami enough time to quickly drive down, kick a field goal at the end, at the end of the first half. That turned out to be important.

And then the clock management on that last drive was terrible. They got the ball two minutes left. There's 18 seconds left, and they're barely past midfield at that point. Just a lot of questionable clock management in a game that involved Mario Cristobal, and it wasn't Mario Cristobal. So shout out Miami for winning that one.

I'm also sad Virginia Tech is not being the team we hoped in preseason because we We can have a lot of fun with Tug Boat Tooting on the show. An underrated nickname can get a lot of two toots on the show. It really could be a thing. But unfortunately, Virginia Tech not getting it done. Tough start of the season for them. If you are enjoying listening to the show, please consider subscribing to the podcast on your platform of choice, Apple, Spotify, whatever. We're on them all. Our review also goes a long way in helping us reach more college football fans. We appreciate everybody's support. When we come back, guys, it's time. We're going to unpack Alabama, Georgia. Were the stakes lessened in this game because of the playoff? Chris and I disagree on this. We may have been fighting about this pre-show, but we're going to do it on the show. We'll be back right after this. Hockey is back on ice, and The Athletic Hockey Show has the game covered four days a week, all season long. Hear from The Athletic's NHL Writers and Insiders Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Plus, keep up with the game's future stars on the Friday Prospect series.

Whether we're diving deep on one topic, discussing the latest news, or breaking down last night's OT winner, you can't miss a single episode. Listen to The Athletic Hockey Show wherever you get your podcasts. Alabama beats Georgia 41 to 34 after rolling up a 28-nothing lead, falling behind after a sleepy third quarter, Alabama's offense seemed to tuck into a shell, and Georgia rallies. Carson Beck made a ton of mistakes early, gets hot late, rallies them back. The first game for Kylian DeBauer in the SEC. Guys, especially the fourth quarter, there's so many situations, so many moments that we're going to remember. Damian, we'll start with you. What was your favorite moment from that ball game?

The most unbelievable play I've ever seen on the field, by 17-year-old kid in his first SEC game. Crazy. Against number 2, Georgia, in Bryant Denny in a night game. And just the pageantry, it gets bigger and bigger and bigger. And this is the biggest game of the year. And just to make that play in that moment as a 17-year-old kid, we talk about it all the time. All I see on Twitter, Instagram, or X, I should say, all I see is, Oh, the kid is 17. The kid is 17. Yeah, it's cool to say, but you Like, if you haven't, and I mean this with no disrespect, but if you haven't stepped on that field, you do not understand how impressive it is to see what this kid is doing at 17 years old. And on that play, the repertoire that he showed, the ball skills, the body control, the awareness, the speed, the elusiveness, the big play capability, the X-Factor, the put the game on my back, the game is on the line, just throw it up to me. I'm going to go get it. Beautiful.

First of all, the presence of mind to know where you are on the field, to know that you need to do that is wild. Two, the body control to grab the catch, come down, and be able to do that again as a freshman, as a 17-year-old, and then to outrun the guys, hit them with another spin move where you're making them look like an FCS scene where they're hitting each other.

This wasn't NIU. This wasn't NIU. This wasn't Kentucky. This wasn't Firm. And this was Georgia.

It wasn't even Notre Dame, Damian. It wasn't even Notre It was Georgia.

Georgia. All while he's wearing an eyebleck that says kill everybody on it. Man, the kid is a savage.

He's a savage. That was crazy. First of all, I have to say, how is that not a penalty. How is that allowed?

Ryan Williams, look at what the kid's doing.

Say it. He's doing it against the best of the best. He did it last night. He proved it.

Six catches, 177 yards. He came into the The game averaging 28, I think, 28 yards per catch. That went up because he averaged 29.5 yards per catch in this game, which was just ridiculous. My takeaway from this game, Calin DeBore. We thought, Hey, nick Saban, He goes away. Maybe Alabama takes a step back. But now we've got Calin DeBore scheming things up for elite-level talent. Yes. Georgia did not know what to do in that first half. Kirby Smart even said at halftime, Well, they're using a lot of empty, and we weren't expecting that. And just totally had Alabama on its backfoot for that whole first half. But they ran out of stuff to do in that second half. Georgia did make the adjustments that they needed to make, and that's how they made their way back into the game. Ultimately, Ryan Williams wins them the game in a close game like maybe we had expected coming in. Calin Demour, though, he's now 6-0 against Kirby Smart, Dan Lanning, Steve Sarkisian. Those are the best coaches in this game, and he's undefeated against them. He is unbelievable in these big moments, in these big games. Jalen Millrow looks just like he's on another level.Sensational.It's crazy.

It's not just the deep pass at the end. He completed like 80% of his passes in this game. He is making quick decisions. He's not taking bad sacs like he did last year. I think we're clearly seeing that Alabama is unlocking everything that they can do with him. This is just such an unbelievable team, what they can do offensively with those two guys.

We talked about it going into the show on Thursday. I We saw it late in the game that when there were big moments, it seemed like Calin DeBore always had something dialed up. Especially now, nick Sheridan doesn't have a ton of experience as a play caller. Calin DeBore is going to be heavy in that process. It might be a little bit different if they had kept Ryan Grub. He's going to have a pretty heavy hand there. We saw that every time they needed a play late, they seemed like they were getting them. They hit that deep ball. Defensively, though, Damian, when you looked first half, it was both sides, just Georgia completely blitzed on both sides. No idea what to do. When you saw them defensively, what did you see like they were doing that had Georgia so confounded offensively? It seemed like Carsobeck couldn't see what was happening? I had no idea what was happening.

Blitz, Bamo, Blitz. They blitzed the hell out of this guy. They brought pressure. And not only when they weren't bringing pressure, they had guys that were just defeating blocks. They had guys in his face all day long. So I think part of it was scheme, but I I think part of it was this Georgia offensive line that I was talking about going into the week that should be a focal point, should be the strong unit for their team. They got dominated. So a little bit of scheme, a little bit. They were just outmatched in the first half. And all that being said, they just threw the kitchen sink at them. And I saw that look in Carson Beck's eyes. And I've seen it before. A guy that's lost, a guy that's seeing ghosts, a guy that can't figure out where's the blitz coming from, how is that Effecting the coverage. Oh, it's one high. They just showed two high. I thought it was one high, so I'm going to throw a goal ball. But then Malekai Moore drops back to the deep half of the field, and then he makes a play on the ball.

I mean, they had this guy confused. They had him rattled. But on the flip side, what I will say is the resolve, the moxie, the competitiveness for him and Georgia to be able to come back in that game, we don't need to understate that. We need to talk about that because I think that at halftime, whatever adjustments they made, whatever Kirby said to that team, That unlocked a different Georgia team. That unlocked a new Georgia team. That's not the team that we saw against Kentucky. I don't even think that's the team that we saw against Clemson. I think that's the best Georgia team that we have seen all year. They proved that in the second half of this game. So I would think if I came out of this game, if I was Georgia, I would think everybody better watch the hell out. If I'm Alabama, you better hope that you don't see us again. Because I'm going to be honest with you, as sure as I'm sitting here wearing this Clemson shirt, this straw hat, I can tell you guys, if the Georgia team that showed up in the second half, showed up in the first half, we're having a whole different conversation about the landscape of the rankings, what happened last night.

We're having a whole different conversation. So I think we need to realize that.

Yeah, I am wondering if Georgia's slow offensive starts. They didn't do much in the first half against Clemson, didn't do anything against Kentucky, didn't do anything in the first half here. Did they find something in the second half there that will carry them forward? Or are these slow starts going to continue to be a problem? Because with that schedule, you can't afford to keep having that happen. There's a lot of heat on Mike bobo here to make sure you continue that momentum.

They were being aggressive, not as creative You saw them take a bunch of deep shots early, which would surprise me a little bit. They were letting Carson Beck chuck deep. But I will say, I couldn't help thinking when Carson Beck, the first play of that drive, hits Dylan Bell for the 69-yard score, I kept thinking about that Rudy Tom Janovich, Clip. Never underestimate the heart of a champion. The idea that any team in the country could go down 28-nothing in Tuscaloosa, come back and take the lead. I still thought, obviously, this is still a ball game. Bama is still pretty good. They're Really good in these spots. A lot of things we said about Kylian DeBore, when they've been in these situations, they answered the bell, especially Ryan Williams, as we talked about, my goodness. But as we look ahead to Georgia, I still feel pretty good about them, but But the schedule, as we mentioned, they go to Texas, to Ole Miss, they play Tennessee. I think Georgia is clearly one of the five best teams in the country. But if you're sitting there at nine and three and you only have two top 25 wins, if they go one and two in that stretch, the idea that Georgia could miss the playoff is a lot more real than people think.

It won't be necessarily because of, Oh, this team's disappointment. It's, Look at their This schedule, compare it to Notre Dame, compare it to Missouri, compare it to Clemson, Eliza and the teams. It's crazy how hard the schedule is. I'm sorry, Chris.

I don't want to cut you off, but I'm going to say this quick. If there's a world where Georgia doesn't get in the playoff and Notre Dame does, I will raise hell in back. That one happened. Sorry.

Go ahead, Chris.

Go ahead, Cress. But to your point, yeah, hey, nine and three, probably not going to happen, but it's on the table. If that's the difference between playing on the road in a first-round playoff game versus having a buy, it's almost as if this Alabama-Georgia game had a lot stakes to it.

Here's the thing, Chris. Okay, let's do this. You wrote after the game that you're shrugging off anybody who suggests the stakes are lowered.

No, not that they're lowered. There was people saying it doesn't really matter. That was my biggest problem.

I don't argue that it doesn't matter, but I don't think you can argue that the stakes are not lower. Here's the thing. I don't think that means people won't care. I don't think it means that it won't be compelling, that it won't be incredible. But the last time that Georgia lost to Alabama, every goal on their Pinterest board was totally gone. They couldn't get to the playoff. They couldn't win the SEC. They couldn't win the national championship. Now they lose, and they can still do all those things.

What happened the previous time they lost to Alabama?

2021. They didn't get in the playoff.

No, 2021. They got in in 2021. They won the national championship. Yes. That's part of my point. The idea that it's never been the case that one September loss ends your season. That That was not the case for Alabama last year against Texas. That was not the case even when Georgia lost the SEC temperature ban.

But the road to a 14 playoff is much steeper if you lose in September. At this point now, they can still lose again, and all their goals are still out in front of them. This game, maybe it lowered your margin of error the rest of the season, but it didn't make it Neil. You're not walking on a razor's edge the rest of the season, which I think there'd be real value in that. Now, I will say, I like the 12-team playoff. I like all these teams that are going to be involved. I like all this stuff. But it does make these games mean a little bit less in the larger scheme of the sport, even if the games themselves continue to be spectacles, continue to be unbelievable. And that was the best game I've seen Probably, I don't know. It's been a while. Here's the thing. The one that jumped out to me was Bama, Tennessee, a few years back, but there's been a couple. I'm forgetting.

When Ryan Williams makes that play for a countdown, when Alabama gets the interception to win the game, in that moment-Great play.

Another fresh for, by the way.

Are you thinking, Oh, no, this doesn't matter. This doesn't matter because Georgia is still back.

It's not that it doesn't matter. It's that the stakes are lower. You've lowered the stakes on these games.

That's what it is. What I'm saying is in that moment, all that mattered was that game. Because when you suit Damina, when you suit up for a game on Saturday, when fans come into the stadium, the only thing that matters is what happens in those four hours. And when any ramifications outwardly are not going to impact how you feel about this game, especially in the moment. When Georgia takes the lead at the end and the camera cuts to that Alabama fan, she's bawling her eyes out. Someone should have told her, right, Hey, Alabama's, their playoff goals are still intact. You don't need to freak out. No, that's why we love college football because it...

They should say, Hey, all the goals are shot in front of you. I know this sucks, but you're going to get another shot at them.

We love college football because of what it means on Saturdays, not for what it means in the playoff. We are part of it. We are part of this. I hate that we talk so much about the playoff. I hate... It's September. Why are we talking about the playoff? It is so far away.

Because there's 12 teams, and that's what everyone wants to talk about now.

It doesn't matter at this point. There's two-thirds of the season still to go. All that matters is that Georgia and Alabama played a hell of a game, and Curry Smart is now one and six against Alabama in his career as head coach. And you're wondering, can Georgia ever get over that hub? I think that game was everything we love about college football, which is not the playoff and the playoff ramifications. We love college football because you never know what you're going to get on a Saturday, whether it's an overturn, Hill Mary, or a pirouette on the sideline from Ryan Williams that we've never seen before. That is what we love about college football, and nothing about the playoff impacts how much we enjoy that in that moment.

Well, Chris, debating what that game means for the state of college football is complicated and debatable. Debating what that game means for the Athletic 134, a little more simple. Where do these two teams shake out in your rankings this week?

I've got Alabama up to number one. They've got the best win. They haven't lost. Pretty easy call there, I think. Georgia only falls to number three. It's as much because of the win over Clemson as anything else. Especially at Clemson, has been boat racing people since then. That continues to look like an even better win. You play Alabama down to the wire. Georgia only falling to number three. I've got Texas in between them. Especially now. In Texas, Georgia, only a couple of weeks away.

All right, guys.

We got to try and sort out the Big 12. I don't know what's happening in this league. We knew- Talk about mid. Maybe, probably. We knew it was going to be unpredictable coming into this year. This league has basically been what we thought it was going to be. We've waiting on Utah because they could simplify things, but Kam Rising's fingers have other ideas. He's dressed out the last couple of weeks, tried to go, has a minute to go. How close is he really from going to Utah? I don't trust a word they ever say on injuries, especially the way they've handled Kam Rising in the last couple of years. But Isaac Wilson comes in. They lose to Arizona, who we'd written off, but Arizona beats them in Salt Lake, 23 to 10, Utah, 0-4 on fourth downs. I Isaac Wilson looked really bad in this game. He looked way more comfortable on the road in Stillwater last week, which doesn't really make sense, but that's what it was. He was 8 of 20, 115 yards, touched down two picks in the second half. Before we get to the rest of the standings, Chris, what does this mean for Utah?

How far did they fall in your rankings? And what does this mean for Arizona, too?

I've got Utah falling from number 9 to number 17. Utah is one of the toughest teams to rank because Utah with Cam Rising is a completely different team. But are we going to get Kammerizing the rest of the season? We don't know. So should I just assume he's not playing anymore and drop them further? They beat Oklahoma State a couple of weeks ago, but Oklahoma State just lost again, which we'll get to. So it's really hard to know what to do with Utah. This is really tough for the Big 12, because if you're the Big 12, you need one team to stand out above the rest. Maybe that's B-Y-U at this point, but you would hoped it would have been Utah around that preseason top 10 ranking. That way, if they're undefeated or one loss, you get an upset in the Big 12 Championship game. You could get two Big 12 teams in that playoff. Instead, the Big 12 eating itself up, starting to look like a league that might only get one bid already. It's not even October.

Damian, This has been the deal for Utah the last two years when Kam rising has been hurt. That defense eats people up. That defense has been unbelievable. The offense has let them down for a lot of different reasons. There's no Sioni Vaki this year. Isaac Walsh has not been able to get it done. Our Our pig farming friend, Bryson Barnes, is off running around chasing pigs.

Utah State, I think he's up there, right?

I believe that's correct. But when you have a team like this where the offense is not getting the job done, the defense is playing so well, how much tension is there in the locker room when those dynamics are at play?

Definitely. Defense is getting pissed off whenever you don't do your ball. I shouldn't say defense. Anybody gets pissed off on the other side of the ball isn't holding their weight. Guys, keep it composed on the sideline because obviously whenever you're there, you're doing battle. We're locked arms, we're on the field, whatever. But when you're not on the field, we're a family, we're brothers, and families fight. Families try to figure out, Hey, what's going on with this? Why are you not pulling your weight around here? Why are you not this? So I don't necessarily think guys are in their budding heads, but I definitely think there's a level of tension with the defense looking at the offense When are you guys going to help us out?

Elsewhere, another team that people wrote off, Kansas State, absolutely rocks Oklahoma State. Wins that game 42-20. Avery Johnson is back. Oklahoma State, a mess. Now, 0-2 in Big 12 play. And two of their biggest games are already behind them. Utah and Kansas State, they lose both. Don't look particularly compelling in either. Iowa State still undefeated, still hanging around, looking good at the top there. But Chris, when you looked at your 134, how far up do you move K State after a game like this? And how far down do you knock Oklahoma State where it looks like a season with a lot of potential might already be, I'm not going to say over, but the idea that they're going to get to Arlington, that's going to be an uphill battle at this point.

Yeah, I've got Kansas State moving up from '21 to '16. The fact that BIO continues to win is good. They beat Baylor on Saturday, so that loss is not as bad. Bio also has a win over SMU, who keeps winning, so that continues to help. Again, BIO may be in the best spot here in the Big 12. Oklahoma's data have dropping from 20 to 37. It's a pretty big drop, but I'm just not with this team this year. It's just not working. They were very lucky to win that game against Arkansas. They needed a late comeback to keep the Utah game close. You get destroyed here by Kansas State. It's just not working. The defense has been a problem. It was a problem last year. They were able to work around it and make enough plays with Ollie Gordon. This year, that's not happening. It's been an ugly, ugly couple of weeks for Oklahoma State.

It's wild that you look at the top of the Big 12 standings and you've got BIO, you've got Iowa State, and you've got these guys, Colorado, 2-0 after going to UCF in Orlando. I think the game was delayed. It delayed a little bit with the pouring rain. They're two breakdown underdogs. They like to throw it around versus UCF, who had the best rushing offense in the country going into the game.

Colorado, their defense- You mentioned the rain delay. What time does the game kick off? You noted this to me.

I did. Colorado did indeed pull an upset at a game that kicked off at 4:20. So take from that what you will. I will say also, Deion in the offseason did note that the Colorado sidelines take on a very distinct funk between the '40s. He said that sometimes he was worried about his players getting a contact high during games. I don't know how official that is in Boulder. I have not noticed the same thing I have been to games in Boulder, but maybe that's just me. Maybe I'm just only the pregame. But either way, I like this defense that they've got. You saw it early in the season that North Dakota State wanted to bully them. They did a nice job of slowing down the running game. Their pass rush is not very good, but they tackled really well. The defense has improved. Rob Livingston has been a nice pickup for them. Defensively, they have been solid for a lot more time than they haven't been. They hold UCF to 144 yards rushing four yards per carry in that game. They also had five sacks. They get four turnovers, 13 tackles for loss. People were sniffing around UCF as a team that might compete in the Big 12 this year.

There's still time. Guys, let's get to our locks and trustful pics. Every week on our Picks show on Thursday, we have our locks of the week, which are pics that can't miss, Chris. They can't miss. They never miss. Our trustful pics, in which we try to talk One of our co-hosts into coming along with us on a pick and saying, Hey, this is going to hit. Trust me. Trust me. Well, this week, our locks were great, except that none of them hit.

Other than that, they were good.

Other than that, they were fantastic. Chris, you had Oklahoma and Auburn under 47.5. This is a good pick. You were probably on the right side of this, but the pick six late.

The pick six late. This was easily going to hit. I don't know if this ended up on bad beats or not. It was very much It was going to hit. It was going to hit. Then we have the pick six with four minutes left. Then Oklahoma also kicks a field goal after that. Auburn was in four-minute offense, up 21 to 16 or something like that.

21-10 in the fourth, I think.

The pick six, the field go at the end, puts it over to 48. I had it at 47.5. Killer, tough break there.

I had Tulane and USF over 64.5. We were sniffing around on this, but USF didn't up their end of the bargain. Gets absolutely smacked by Tulane. I suspect some of this is fatigue. They've already played Alabama. They've already played Miami this season. That does take a toll on some of these G5 teams. Michael Kelly, the AD down there. I'm curious if they have a conversation about scheduling moving forward. A tough schedule. You want to play one of those games, maybe get a chance to knock a team off? I don't know about two, and it seemed like it caught up with them in this game. And Damian, you had Ole Miss minus 17 and a half, which did not hit.

I believe We were talking last week. We were talking, going into the show about how I've been riding with Ole Miss, and it's been a sure thing for me.We.

Were undefeated against the spread.What.

Did I say? What have I said on this show a couple of times? If you pat somebody on the ass, they're going to shit in your hand. So thank you so much, Lane Kiffin, Jackson Dart, Mr. Frosted Tips. I appreciate you guys. I appreciate you. I appreciate that.

Our trustful picks. I'm the only one holding it down. I gave Chris, Nebraska minus eight and a half going on the in conference play. We're not going to talk about what happened in the first half, but Nebraska wins that game. I think they're up 28-3. They finished 28-10. That one, a no doubter in the second half. We're not going to talk about what happened in the first half.

Zero-zero halftime there.

Well, I guess all games start zero-zero. I don't recognize the first half, any of those events. Daman, you gave me Michigan minus nine and a half. This one, Michigan, they've got the most open back door in college football. They keep letting teams to sneak in. Was it 28-3 in this game? Something like that.

It was- Michigan.

It was definitely going to hit.

Michigan in the second half has been outscored on the season by 16 points. Do we care about this? Ten points in the fourth quarter. I'm just saying, team So the games are adjusting to Michigan as these games go on, and Michigan is not handling it well. This is several games I've got close to.

Is it that hard to adjust against Alex Orgie in Michigan right now? I mean, the only adjustment you have to make is, how do we load the box and stop Kalele Mullen? How do we keep Donovan Edwards from being a factor? That's it. That's literally it.

And then Chris, you had... It was a beautiful moment on Thursday's show. You were united with Damian, where your trustful pick was Ole Miss minus 17. C&f, not even close at any point to hitting. It's time to get to our highsmen's and our Criesman's of the Week for the best and worst things that we saw on the field on Saturday, Friday. It bleeds over sometimes. Chris, who's your Heisman of the Week?

Look, it's got to be UNLV quarterback, Haj Malik Williams. After the entire Matthew Sluka saga and everything that went along with that and losing your starting quarterback when you're starting off 3-0, Williams comes in. They beat Fresno State, 59 to 14. Pretty good Fresno State team, by the way. Yes.

They pushed Michigan.

Williams goes 13 for 16, 182 yards, three touch downs, along with 119 yards on the ground and another touch down. Williams transferred from Campbell, FCS Campbell in the offseason. Shout out to the Campbell.In the spring. He was the starting quarterback in the spring. Sluka had also transferred from Holy Cross, FCS, came in in the summer. I said this when we talked about the Sluka thing. I was like, I don't think UNLV is too up in arms about losing their quarterback, even if it's really, really bad PR that you're so broke, you can't pay him 100K. They've He's not a really good guy right there, and he plugs in, and UNLV looks dominant. They can now throw the ball better than they could before. Sluka was only completing 43% of his passes. It was more of a run-first offense. Ricky White, really good receiver last year. He had 10 catches, 127 yards. He had not done much on the season. White said after the game, Hey, that guy from circa who wanted to give $100,000 to keep Sluka, give it to the offensive line. That was a really cool thing for him to say. It was good.

But yeah, UNLV LV is undefeated. They're ranked in both pulls for the first time ever. And Taj Malik Williams can do some things as a quarterback. They are going to be, after a week of really bad PR, I think UNLV is going to be just fine.

Yeah, I think I said on Thursday, if they thought that their playoff hopes were walking out the door for $100,000, they would have found a way to pay it, and that was not the case. I think the subtext that they're not going to say is that they like Mahaj Malik Williams as well. Damian, I feel like your highsman of the week is going to be a man that you've been in love with for a long time. A man among children. I think a lot of college football fans are coming on and joining the podcast, especially you, Damian, with their newest crush. If they have not paid attention, unbelievable game. Who's your highsman of the week?

Mr. Hector, Ashton, Genti. Let me do my best Steven A. Smith. I love this guy. Let me do my best Steven A. Smith because this brother is special. This brother is box office. This dude is must-see TV See, I mean, hold on. I'm going to read something to you guys. Just so for the people who are out there listening, for you guys, anybody who cares, I'm going to read you his stat lines for this season. 271, six touchdowns. 200 yards, three touchdowns. 127 yards, no touch downs. Last night, 254 and 4 touch downs. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? This dude is unbelievable. He's having one of the best seasons of a running back that I've seen season I'm not talking about talent. I remember Béjane. Béjane was great at Texas a couple of years ago. There have been some good backs. But when you talk about production, when you talk about carrying your team, when you literally putting everybody on your back, including the entire 11 guys on the other team's defense. This guy is sensational.

My high spin of the week, guys, can we give it up for the troops right now? Because Army and Navy, they're 4-0 for the first time since 1945. And not even just that, Navy Rocks UAB on the road. They beat Memphis last week, hung 56 on them, beat Temple by 27, Bucknell by 28. These are not even really close. They destroyed Memphis. That game wasn't even as close as the numbers would suggest. Army, on the other hand, plays a Thursday night game at Temple, wins it by four touch downs. They beat Rice by three touch downs, beat FAU by 17, and Lehigh by 35. They are beating the crap out of teams. Shout out to the troops. Big time start. Army Navy is going to be special this year, and it doesn't factor in the playoff.

Which one? We might get two of them.

Yeah, that's a great question. We'll see. Great, great start for those teams, and a lot of fun to watch.

That Army Navy game, to clarify, Army Navy will not have an impact on the American race or the playoff. It is after the selection of the playoff teams. So it's possible if Army and Navy are the two best teams in the American, they play two weeks in a row. You could have an instance, and whoever wins the first game could be the one that goes to the playoff. It's a really interesting thing. I'm digging into it for a story. Army is passing the... I'm sorry, Navy, throwing the ball more than they have in forever. They were balanced.Like.

Corvath getting after it.

They were balanced against UAB. This team can do a lot, but they've got Air Force this week, and Air Force always causes these teams trouble, even though Air Force is not good this year, that game is always close. Keep an eye on Army, Navy, Air Force.

Damian, who's your criseman of the week?

Dj U, come here. You can't hide from me. You can't hide from us just because Carson Becker is playing like trash in the first First half against Alabama. I saw what you did. I saw that pick six. I saw how bad you looked. I saw it. You are my criseman. You're my criseman of the season right now.I'm going to be honest.It's tough. This is bad. This is the One of the most overwhelming seasons for a quarterback that I can remember in a recent memory. As far as expectations, as far as having something to prove, bouncing around from team to team, running from the competition, running from the moment. Well, buddy, you can't hide. You cannot do it. That bad play, it cannot be overlooked. I don't care what else is going on in college football. Dj U, I'm on you. You're my Cribsman of the Week and of the Year. So unless you want to win the award at the end of the season, you better get it together.

Yeah, FSU loses a game at SMU 42-16 in a league they're trying to get out of against a team that they don't think belongs in their league. Not even close. And it's crazy. I think there was so much conversation about, well, it was just Clemson. Clemson had the issues. Dju is fine. He goes to Oregon State. He was okay. He was good. He seemed like he fixed some stuff. Now he's back. Clemson's on fire. Kate Clubnik's playing. Fantastic. It's unbelievable. Chris, what were you saying?

My criseman is Florida State as a whole because it's not just that. Dj, they lose 42-16 to SMU. He throws three picks, one of which is a pick six. Brock Glenn actually came in the game. I think DJ had a hand issue or something It might have been an injury that he came in for. Brock Glenn went 0 for 4. It's not like he came in and started to light it up either. That's the biggest thing that sticks out. Now you're sitting at 1 and 4. This season, I don't even know if you're going to probably not going to make a bowl game at this point, which is wild. Not just one of the most disappointing seasons for a quarterback, Damian. I'm talking about a team. This is a preseason top 10 team that is just bad. They're just bad.

You know who had a worst weekend? Is the East Tennessee State football team. I get heat up Saturday morning. I hear that there is some issues afoot. If you did not track this, East Tennessee State, I wrote about this on The Athletic, they left about 10:30 AM on Friday morning to go play their game at the Citadel. Long story short, got stranded on the team busses for 14 hours, have no cell service for 12 hours. They end up getting... The only reason they get to their game, you can read the details in the story, a very friendly hitchhiker drops some coaches off at a hotel drives away, figures out that the road to get to their game is actually open, but knows they have no service, so drives all the way back, lets them know the road's clear. I think he can get there. They end up getting to their team hotel at 4:30 in the morning, get some Waffle House delivery. Shout out to Waffle House. Also not a sponsor of the show. Please be a sponsor of the show. I was going to say a free promo. Yeah, exactly. But they hit them up with a delivery.

That was pretty cool. And Ingles Supermarkets also hit them up with some... They gave them 100 free sandwiches, 15 loaves of bread, 15 cans of peanut butter. Anyway, All that to say, my Criisman of the Week is the Citadel, who hosted these weary travelers and proceeded to lose the game 34-17. Shout out to Coach Trey Lamb and the East Tennessee State Bucaneers, who had the toughest weekend of any college football team and still got the win. My Criisman of the Week, the Citadel. Guys, sad state of affairs. Sad state of affairs. Guys, Week 5 was awesome. Best weekend of the season yet. Gave us the best game of the season, no doubt. There's so much more college football to enjoy, and we want you to enjoy it with us on Until Saturday. So subscribe to the podcast, Apple, Spotify, Overcast. Wherever you listen, we publish three podcasts a week. Mondays and Thursdays, you can see all three of our smiling faces, especially if you subscribe on YouTube. And Wednesday, we always have special guests. We had Alabama Coach Calin DeBore. I've heard he's pretty hot in the streets right now. He came on the show.

We had Greg McElroy last week. So All season long, Monday, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, we are here on Until Saturday. So subscribe to the podcast not only helps us, but it helps you because the podcast is delivered directly to your device automatically every time we have new content. Leave us a review and any support from you listening is greatly appreciated. Check out our YouTube channel at youtube. Com/@untilsaturday. You can see Damian today sporting the nick Saban hat, the Bama pullover, all that stuff. Call the Until Saturday phone line as well and leave a voicemail for our Monday Reaction Show at 316-462-9852. We love hearing from you guys. Check out the Until Saturday newsletter as well. Janna Bardahl does a great job with it, and it's free. You can get a taste of what we do at theathletic. Com. You can find links to that newsletter, our YouTube channel, everything in the show's description. For Damian Harris, from the guy who lost our playoff debate, Chris Finini. I am David Uben. We will talk to you again on Wednesday and bring back the turnover chain, even if you got lucky that the Hilmary was reversed. Thanks for listening, guys.

We'll see you again on Wednesday. Until Saturday.