Alabama didn’t just beat Georgia on Saturday. It sent a message.
In a 56-23 rout, the Crimson Tide got the kind of performance that changes the conversation around a quarterback and a program at the same time. Keelon Russell, who had been on Alabama’s radar since spring and turned heads with four passing touchdowns in the spring game, is no longer flying under it.
He spread 10 passing touchdowns and 970 yards across his last three games, and this one felt like the loudest statement yet. Wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams once said playing with him was like “a video game,” and that line suddenly sounds a lot less playful.
The win gives Alabama a 5-0 start and some breathing room before a brutal stretch that includes Georgia, Tennessee on the road and LSU on the road over the next five weeks. It also adds another big-game notch for coach Kalen DeBoer, who keeps stacking evidence in his multiyear push to win over the Alabama faithful.
Saturday’s slate had no shortage of head-turning results, though. Michigan’s strange season found another uneasy chapter in a 20-14 win over Minnesota, a game the Wolverines nearly let slip away after the Golden Gophers outgained them 262-180.
Minnesota went ahead 20-14 with 13:44 left, but Michigan managed to survive the final quarter. Bryce Underwood continued to struggle, finishing 10 of 21 with two interceptions.
With a bye week now on deck, Michigan gets a chance to reset before a matchup with a mediocre Penn State team on Oct. 17.
Wake Forest kept making its own case as one of the season’s most surprising teams, and this one was emphatic. The Demon Deacons blasted Stanford 57-3, setting a program conference margin of victory record in the ACC and moving to 4-1.
Jake Dickert has Wake Forest rolling, but quarterback Gio Lopez may be the most striking part of the rise. He threw two touchdown passes against Stanford, giving him 10 on the season - the same number he had all of last year for North Carolina.
That kind of jump makes Wake Forest look like a real ACC title contender.
Northwestern also delivered one of the day’s most jarring results, opening its nine-figure new stadium Friday by flattening Penn State 34-13. The Wildcats did it with a staggering ground game, piling up 413 rushing yards to Penn State’s 48.
That was the most rushing yards the Nittany Lions have allowed since 2022, and it was enough to push Northwestern into the category of teams that may be cracking the Top 25 soon. The question now is how long that stays true, with Oregon, Iowa, Ohio State and Minnesota waiting in a rough stretch that begins Halloween.
There was also a game that carried far more weight than the box score alone. Yale coach Tony Reno, who won five Ivy League titles from 2012 to ’25, resigned in February after Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease forced him out, and he died Friday at 52 from the rare brain disorder.
On Saturday, his son, Yale quarterback Dante Reno, took the field and threw four touchdowns in a 41-24 win. All there really is to say about this performance is that it could not have been easy.
In Other News...
Alabama Found Two Reasons To Feel Better Before Georgia
Before Alabama turns its attention to Georgia, there were a couple of encouraging signs worth noting from the latest game. Keelon Russell gave the offense a lift by throwing for 285 yards and three touchdowns while adding a score on the ground, and the run game got meaningful help from a deeper group of backs, including Traeshawn Brown and EJ Crowell.
Xavier Griffin also stood out on the other side of the ball, leading the team in tackles and helping make several key defensive plays. Just as important for a defense looking to steady itself, Alabamas run front was much firmer against Mississippi State, holding the Bulldogs to 18 rushing yards and giving the Tide something concrete to carry into a bigger test. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Has A Real Shot To Climb After Saturdays Top 25 Chaos
Saturdays college football slate did Alabama a favor, even before the next AP Top 25 poll gets posted. USC barely survived an upset scare, Ohio State and Missouri both had results worth watching, and a few teams around the country did enough to create the kind of weekend that tends to shake up the middle and upper tiers of the rankings.
For Alabama, the bigger point is simple: the Crimson Tide have a real path to move up if the voters decide the chaos mattered as much as the resumes. The poll will be refreshed soon, and with conference play still unfolding, there is a decent chance the order gets jumbled in a way that opens the door for Alabama to climb if enough teams ahead of it wobble. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Answered Nick Saban With The Identity Fans Wanted To See
Against a Mississippi State team that had already lost running back Fluff Bothwell early, Alabama took control and never let go in a 56-23 win that had the game settled by the third quarter. The Tides defense was active all afternoon, piling up sacks and tackles for loss while the offense built a lead that reflected a team playing on its front foot.
For a program that has spent so much of the fall being measured against its own standard, this was the kind of response Kalen DeBoer had to like. He praised Alabamas physicality afterward, and the performance offered the clearest hint yet of the identity fans have been waiting to see - one built less on style points than on contact, discipline and a defense that can set the tone. [Read more 🡒]