College football is unpredictable and delightful, which is why we live for what happens on Saturdays. And the fifth Saturday of the 2024 season did not disappoint, from Kentucky’s stunning upset of No. 6 Ole Miss to an instant classic in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Each Sunday, I’ll publish my biggest takeaways from the college football weekend. I’ll highlight the most interesting storylines, track College Football Playoff contenders and specifically shout out individual and team performances that deserve the spotlight.
Here are my top takeaways from Week 5:
1. Jalen Milroe had his Heisman moment.
I’m sure every voter had his or her eyes glued to the happenings in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday night, but in case people missed it, I’m willing to personally deliver a copy of Alabama’s first-half performance against Georgia to them (plus the final minutes). Milroe was sensational, picking apart Kirby Smart’s defense repeatedly. Alabama scored touchdowns on each of its first four possessions, Nick Saban was fist-bumping pals, and by halftime, Milroe had accounted for 305 total yards of offense and three touchdowns. And at the end of the game, after Georgia clawed its way all the way back and took a late lead, Milroe found the acrobatic Ryan Williams for the game-winning touchdown.
Colorado’s two-way star Travis Hunter has also been terrific through the season’s first month — and I loved that he struck the Heisman pose after his interception against UCF on Saturday — and Boise State’ Ashton Jeanty added four touchdowns to his tally in an impressive win over Washington State this weekend, but Milroe should be considered the frontrunner for the sport’s most prestigious individual award as the calendar flips from September to October.
2. Georgia is still one of the best teams in the SEC — and the country.
I’ll admit I wrote off the Bulldogs a bit after they went down 28-0 on the road. I don’t think I was alone. But what Georgia did defensively in the second half against Alabama was remarkable and a credit to both the players and coach Kirby Smart, who you just know lit into them at halftime. That allowed Carson Beck and his offensive weapons (who admittedly are nowhere near as potent as years past) time to come back in this game. I know Georgia came up short, but I can’t help but be impressed by the team I saw in the second half. That’s a Bulldog team that can compete with anyone in the country, anywhere the game is played. I might even feel better about Georgia against Texas (or any other elite team with a non-dual threat quarterback) than I do about the Dawgs’ matchup with a team like Alabama. Either way, I’m not writing this team off after the comeback we saw on a Saturday night in hostile territory.
3. Ole Miss might be a pretender. But Kentucky might also be legitimately good.
It’s still early in the season and one loss does not disqualify anyone — let alone an SEC team expected to be in the mix for a CFP at-large spot — but what we saw from the Rebels on Saturday was at least a little concerning. All those points and explosive plays we’d seen for weeks against overmatched competition were nowhere to be seen against the tough Kentucky defense. The Wildcats played tough against then-No. 1 Georgia two weeks ago, too, but they fell short at the end (and left us all still smarting over that decision to punt!). It was a similar situation but different outcome against No. 6 Ole Miss on Saturday, as Mark Stoops made a gutsy fourth-down call from deep in Kentucky’s own territory that led to the eventual game-winning touchdown, courtesy of a little fumble luck.
Ultimately, this is the kind of game Kentucky tends to lose, which makes it remarkable that the ‘Cats won it. It’s also the kind of game that a serious CFP contender shouldn’t drop, and that’s what makes me worried about the Rebels. They’ve got to be tougher than that.
4. Miami is flawed but still somehow unbeaten.
The ‘Canes are still probably the team to beat in the ACC, but they aren’t as overwhelming a favorite after a shaky win over Virginia Tech on Friday night. They were THISCLOSE to losing on a final play that took about 10 minutes of real time to sift through. For the record, I do think the call of an incomplete pass was correct, but the process that got to that point was a mess. I wish we could allow officiating crews the option of saying, ‘Hey, we couldn’t see this play and won’t make a ruling on the field. We’ll just send it to replay!’ But alas.
This weekend reminded me of the Cam Ward Experience from his Wazzu era. There were amazing highs but also some brutal lows. And it was the same against Virginia Tech, Heisman-caliber moments mixed in with bad turnovers. We’ll see how Miami responds from this close call — particularly on the defensive side of the ball, which struggled mightily against a Hokie offense that hadn’t been all that potent to date.
5. Jeremiah Smith is already one of the best receivers in college football, if not the best.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day was effusive in his praise of his true freshman receiver back in the spring when I visited Columbus. I was surprised, because it’s rare a head coach actually feeds into the hype surrounding a potential star before he’s played a single snap. But he knew what he had in Smith, and he knew how we’d all react to seeing him in action. Smith is just an unbelievable talent with incredible hand-eye coordination and body control. The one-handed grab he had against Michigan State was just the latest highlight in a long reel that’s been building since Week 1. He’s already in unprecedented territory as a Buckeye; the Ohio State true freshman receiving record is eight touchdowns. Through four games, Smith has five touchdown catches.
For what it’s worth ... the other incredible true freshman receiver, Ryan Williams at Alabama, is already one of the sport’s best as well. How about that body control?!
6. Army and Navy are 4-0 for the first time since 1945.
Yes, you read that right. These two service academies have not both been this good to start a season since the year that World War II ended. Not only is it fun for those of us who love the sport to see Army and Navy play well — even though there are two-plus months to go until they square off in their traditional rivalry game — but it’s pretty fascinating because it could actually impact the CFP! Both teams are eligible for the Group of 5 champion spot in the new 12-team bracket, even though the Army-Navy game will take place a week after the American Athletic Conference championship game. And both of these teams currently lead the AAC standings. It’s a cool, albeit unlikely scenario to root for.
7. The death of the Big Ten East has been a blessing for Indiana and Rutgers.
No one was happier to see the new division-less Big Ten schedules than Rutgers and Indiana. Finally, after a decade spent in the East division with annual games against some of the biggest powerhouses in college football, these two schools no longer have schedules that require you to pencil in three or four losses right off the bat. Indiana is 5-0 for just the third time in program history in Curt Cignetti’s first season as head coach, backing up all of his big talk. Rutgers is 4-0 for the first time in over a decade, with a remaining schedule that does not include Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State or Oregon. Most years, we’d be talking about whether Rutgers and Indiana can reach the six-win threshold for bowl-eligibility. Now, we might be discussing how good a bowl game they can make. And that’s pretty cool.
8. UNLV seems just fine without Matthew Sluka.
Sluka’s NIL dispute dominated the news cycle this week, but it did not affect the Rebels one bit when they actually took the field against Fresno State on Saturday. UNLV crushed Fresno State to the tune of 59-14 in its Mountain West opener, a margin of victory that spoke volumes about how the Rebel roster felt about its now-former starting quarterback leaving the team three games into the season over money he believed he was owed. Quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams threw for 182 yards and ran for 119 more, accounting for four total touchdowns in his first start. Methinks UNLV will be just fine without Sluka the rest of the way.
9. Time is running out on Baylor’s Dave Aranda. And Sam Pittman. And maybe eventually Hugh Freeze?
Hot Seat Watch 2024 is heating up, as Baylor suffered its third loss in four games and Arkansas snatched a defeat out of the jaws of victory for a second time this season. These are bad losses these teams are enduring! The Bears lost to a red-hot BYU team after completely collapsing against Colorado last weekend. Aranda had one fantastic season, going 12-2 in Year 2, but it’s all been downhill since. It’s hard to justify keeping him around after the September that Baylor has had so far.
It’s possibly nearing the end of the line for Pittman at Arkansas, too, after a loss to a beatable Texas A&M team playing its backup quarterback. He entered the season on one of the hottest seats of anyone, and the Razorbacks then proceeded to blow the game against a mediocre Oklahoma State team, despite nearly doubling the Pokes in total yardage. The easy (or hard) part about the Arkansas situation is that Pittman hired his likely successor — Bobby Petrino — this offseason. That could either make it a quick change, or it gives the Arkansas brass leeway to make a decision later on this season. We’ll see what happen in Fayetteville, just as we monitor the goings on in Auburn, Ala. This Freeze hire is not working, as evidenced by embarrassing losses to Cal, Arkansas and Oklahoma this season alone. (We can also never forget New Mexico State.) This is a supposed offensive guru overseeing quarterbacks who cannot stop turning the ball over and costing the Tigers wins. And that gets you on the hot seat.
10. The CFP has not lessened the stakes of games like Alabama-Georgia.
There has been a weird narrative from national pundits this season who argue that top-five showdowns like the one in Tuscaloosa are somehow meaningless in the era of the 12-team Playoff. They think it’s a bad thing that the loser of this Georgia-Alabama game could easily still make the College Football Playoff — and because of that, they think the expanded Playoff devalues the regular season. I can’t imagine that anyone watching Alabama-Georgia on Saturday felt that it was meaningless. Or that knowing the loser of the game was still very much alive in the CFP race took anything away from an incredibly entertaining game that will likely have a huge impact in the SEC race.
Try telling Kalen DeBoer that that game didn’t matter. Or Ryan Williams as he darted down the field for the game-winning score. I’m sure they would tell you it most certainly did.
