The first top-five matchup of the 2024 season showed why college football is a great and incredibly chaotic sport.

No. No. 2 Alabama looked well on its way to an easy victory over No. 4 Georgia as the Crimson Tide raced to an early 28-0 lead. But the Bulldogs somehow found their way back into the game throughout the second half, taking their first lead of the game when Carson Beck hit Dillon Bell for a 67-yard touchdown with 2:31 to go.

Common sense would dictate that Beck’s bombing of Bell would be the highlight of the evening. But college football is not bound by the rules of common sense. Freshman Ryan Williams caught a 75-yard TD pass from Jalen Milroe on Alabama’s first offensive play after Bell’s TD, giving the Crimson Tide a lead they knew they wouldn’t relinquish after freshman corner Zabien Brown had Beck with 43 seconds left singled out and sealed a 41-34 victory.

Alabama’s victory came in the Tide’s first home game as underdogs in 17 years and snapped a 42-game regular season winning streak for Georgia dating back to November 7, 2020. The only team to beat Georgia during that streak: Alabama, while the Tide defeated Georgia in both the 2021 and 2023 SEC championship games.

Both games served as quasi-College Football Playoff quarterfinals in the four-team era. With only one other power conference team with one loss, the Bulldogs were still able to make the playoffs in 2021 and get revenge on Alabama in the national title game. A season ago, Alabama’s win over Georgia knocked the Bulldogs completely out of the playoffs and Georgia had to take out its frustration on an undermanned Florida State team in an Orange Bowl blowout.

This year the College Football Playoff with twelve teams is just around the corner. Thanks to the expanded field, Georgia still has an excellent chance to make the postseason even with another loss. Saturday night’s game wasn’t set up to be the playoff setback it could have been in years past.

And that’s fine. None of Saturday night’s game was devalued as the loser had a great chance to make the playoffs. Bryant-Denny Stadium was still sold out and tickets were going for four figures on the secondary market. Do you really want to try to tell a Georgia or Alabama fan that this game didn’t matter that much simply because the playoff field is bigger?

There was still a lot at stake when it came to the playoffs. The win gives Alabama a big advantage in the race to reach the SEC title game and the chance for a first-round bye. While Georgia will likely need to win at both Texas and Ole Miss to return to the SEC title game, Alabama can now afford a loss at Tennessee or LSU and make it to the championship game.

Yes, the postseason stakes for regular season games may not be as important as they used to be. But that doesn’t detract from what we saw on Saturday night. This Alabama win will be remembered for a long time for reasons that have nothing to do with the playoffs.

Here are this week’s other winners and losers.

Winners

UNLV: The Rebels made quite a statement in their first game without starting QB Matthew Sluka. UNLV destroyed Fresno State 59-14 as Hajj-Malik Williams totaled four touchdowns in his first start. Williams threw for three scores and rushed twelve times for 119 yards and another TD days after Sluka said he would no longer play for the Rebels due to an alleged unfulfilled promise of $100,000 NIL.

A sportsbook manager offered to make that payment this week and UNLV wide receiver Ricky White III said after the game there would be a better use for that money. White had 10 catches for 127 yards and two scores.

Indiana: The Hoosiers should be in the AP Top 25 on Sunday after a 42-28 win over Maryland. Indiana is now 5-0 and one win away from bowl eligibility as Kurtis Rourke threw for 359 yards and six different Hoosiers scored a touchdown. Indiana will be a road favorite at Northwestern in Week 6 and a win there will set up an intriguing matchup between an undefeated Indiana and a potential one-loss Nebraska on October 19.

Tulan: After a non-conference schedule that included games against Kansas State and Oklahoma, Tulane opened conference play with a dominant 45-10 win over South Florida at home. QB Darian Mensah was 18 of 22 for 326 yards and three touchdowns, while former Oklahoma and USC wide receiver Mario Williams caught two touchdown passes. The Green Wave have a very manageable AAC schedule and should be in contention all season for the conference title – and a potential spot in the College Football Playoff.

Duke: The Blue Devils scored 21 points in the second half in a 21-20 home win over North Carolina. The Tar Heels led 20-0 in the third quarter before Duke scored three times in the final 21 minutes. A late decision to punt on fourth-and-1 was dangerous for Manny Diaz’s team, but Duke pinned the Tar Heels inside the 10 with less than two minutes left and Tre Freeman intercepted Jacolby Criswell with 30 seconds left. Duke is now 5-0 in Diaz’s first season ahead of a Week 6 trip to Georgia Tech.

Losers

Baylor: The Bears couldn’t bounce back from their crushing loss in Colorado. BYU jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and held on until the second half for a 34-28 victory in Waco. Sawyer Robertson appears to have dethroned Dequan Finn as the Bears’ starting QB, but defense was a real problem. BYU scored TDs on the first four drives of the game and only one came on a short field after a turnover. The games at Iowa State and Texas Tech over the next three weeks could be crucial for Dave Aranda’s future.

Chestnut brown: Who will Hugh Freeze blame this week? After QB Hank Brown started the last two games for the Tigers, Freeze put Payton Thorne back into the starting lineup against Oklahoma on Saturday and Kip Lewis’ pick-6 with 4:06 remaining proved to be the decisive points in a 27 – 21 wins for the Sooners. Auburn outscored Oklahoma 482-291, had 26 first downs to Oklahoma’s 11 and had fewer penalties. Oh, the Sooners were also missing their top five wide receivers. But that didn’t matter as true freshman QB Michael Hawkins rushed 14 times for 69 yards and a TD along with a two-point conversion.

State of Oklahoma: The No. 20 Cowboys have a hole to dig out of after an 0-2 start to Big 12 play. OSU was blown out 42-20 at Kansas State on Saturday and will certainly fall out of the Top 25 on Sunday. Kansas State QB Avery Johnson had five total touchdowns, while Kansas State averaged 8.8 yards per rush. Ollie Gordon II, a 2023 All-American, had his best game of the season against an FBS opponent on Saturday with 15 carries for 76 yards. But that’s clearly not good enough.

UAB: The Blazers fell to 1-3 with a 41-18 home loss to a Navy team that swept all over Memphis in Week 4. The Midshipmen averaged more than five yards a carry, but QB Blake Horvath also split the UAB defense for 225 yards passing and two TDs on just 11 attempts. UAB is now just 5-11 since Trent Dilfer took over in 2023. One of those losses was to Louisiana-Monroe and coach Bryant Vincent, the Blazers’ interim coach in 2022, who was passed over for the job. Vincent’s Warhawks are now 3-1 on the year after a 13-9 win over Troy Saturday night.