CFB Wrap-up: Takeaways from Week 5's biggest games

College Football Wrap-Up recaps the most important developments from the day's action and examines their significance moving forward.

Alabama-Georgia an all-time classic

Looks like the Alabama-Georgia rivalry will be just fine without Nick Saban. The two SEC powerhouses played an all-time classic in their first matchup since the legendary coach retired. The Bulldogs stormed back, meaning the Tide needed a heroic finish to secure the win.

But first, coach Saban's thoughts about Alabama's first half:

Milroe and the Crimson Tide offense hit the Bulldogs early and often to take a 30-7 lead at the break and send the visitors to the locker room stunned. The redshirt junior quarterback completed 18 of 21 passes for 199 yards and a touchdown, and he showed off his elite rushing ability with another 106 running yards and two touchdowns on the ground - in the first half. His counterpart, Carson Beck, looked lost with the Alabama defense. Beck threw two interceptions for the first time in his career and took a safety on an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone.

Let's hope someone leaks Kirby Smart's halftime speech because it must have been a banger based on his team's second-half effort. Beck was a different quarterback, seeing the field like a Heisman contender and slicing up the Tide's defense. Two scoring drives, each under two minutes long, got the Bulldogs back within five in a hurry. Then Beck threw a 67-yard deep bomb to Dillon Bell to score, putting the Bulldogs ahead with 2:31 remaining.

And then Ryan Williams called game.

Both teams are undoubtedly among the nation's best and the game was an instant classic. The first-half performance of Georgia's offense and the second-half showing of the Crimson Tide's defense will certainly be dissected, but, tonight, we'll simply say thanks for an epic thriller.

DeBoer's 1st Alabama win came in January

Hours after Saban retired in January, Ryan Williams, the prized five-star recruit, de-committed from Alabama. He visited Texas A&M before firming up his commitment to Kalen DeBoer and the Tide two weeks later. That may go down as one of the biggest wins in DeBoer's first seasons with the program.

The 17-year-old phenom has shone for Alabama since the start of the season, but he saved his best for the epic win over Georgia on Saturday. Williams didn't just score the winning 75-yard touchdown, he made the attempted tackles of arguably the best defense in the nation look like video-game glitches on the completion.

Alabama may have lost several players following Saban's departure, but Williams showed Saturday why DeBoer and the new staff were so interested in him.

Mark Stoops, a gambler?

Two weeks ago, Kentucky nearly shocked No. 2 Georgia, but head coach Mark Stoops' decision to punt on a short fourth down in the dying minutes gave the Bulldogs a chance to win - and they did, thereby avoiding the upset to remain undefeated. On Saturday at No. 6 Ole Miss, Stoops changed his approach and gambled. It paid off, leading to the program's biggest win under his guidance.

On a fourth-and-7 on his own 19-yard line with four minutes to play, Stoops kept the offense on the field and went for the first down, and it worked. Fortune really does favor the bold.

That incredible 68-yard completion set the Wildcats up for a touchdown - on an equally nerve-wracking play - setting Kentucky up to complete the seismic upset.

Stoops' defense solved Jaxson Dart and the explosive Ole Miss attack for the second consecutive time. The Rebels escaped with a 22-19 win two years ago, but this contest yielded no such result. Ole Miss entered the matchup averaging 49 points per game and 8.5 yards per play, ranking the Rebels in the top five nationally in both categories. The Wildcats chopped those numbers to 17 and 6.3, respectively, Saturday.

While the loss doesn't eliminate Ole Miss from playoff contention, it served as a reminder that conference play often exposes flaws that aren't visible in the first month of the season.

Penn State 'out Big Ten's' Illinois

For years, the identity of the Big Ten has been running the ball and playing stout defense - a strong point for both Penn State and Illinois. That made Saturday's whiteout matchup between the two schools at Beaver Stadium a contest of who could out-Big Ten the other, with the Nittany Lions earning an emphatic victory.

The Illini barely cracked the 200-yard mark in total offense for the night, with the Nittany Lions' defense holding their opponent to just 1.1 yards per rush. Clearly, the narrow win over Bowling Green earlier in the year was a wake-up call - the defense has allowed just seven total points in the two games since the Falcons put up 27.

Drew Allar likely won't put many highlights from Saturday on his NFL draft tape, but the Nittany Lions didn't need the quarterback to shine since Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton combined for 196 rushing yards and two scores on an overwhelmed Illinois line.

Penn State now has the chance to welcome both UCLA and USC to the Big Ten in bruising style with the two new members of the conference next up on the slate.

Jeremiah Smith remains unfair

We've talked about freshman Jeremiah Smith's exploits in this space before, but the Ohio State star continues to outdo himself every week. This week, the Buckeyes took on their first power-conference opponent of the season in Michigan State, but the Spartans were little match for Smith and Ohio State.

The Buckeyes comfortably passed their biggest test of the season by a 38-7 margin in East Lansing. Next week, the stout Iowa defense heads to Columbus to try to be the first team to slow Smith down. He might need two hands against the Hawkeyes, but it's probably a safe bet he'll continue to shine for the Big Ten favorites.

No more easy button for Michigan

Last week was a revelation for Michigan. In an entertaining home win over USC, the Wolverines leaned heavily on the rushing attack and defense. The performance would have made Jim Harbaugh very proud.

The legendary coach's teams at Michigan almost always comfortably handled business against lesser opponents. There was nothing easy about Saturday's finish: Minnesota collected 21 points in the final quarter to make things interesting.

The Golden Gophers recovered an outstanding onside kick after drawing within three, only to have it called back by a questionable offside decision. Michigan did recover the second one, but that still didn't give the hosts a nerve-free finish. The offense nearly lost the ball on an errant snap trying to run out the clock.

In the end, the Wolverines again hoisted the Little Brown Jug, but serious questions remain about how far the defending national champions can go this season.

Colorado defense stands up

Plenty of what we saw from Colorado on Saturday was expected. Shedeur Sanders completed a whopping 80% of his passes for almost 300 yards and threw three touchdowns. Travis Hunter continued to shine on both sides of the ball, racking up 9 catches for 89 yards and a touchdown to go along with an interception on defense. But it's what we didn't expect from the Buffaloes that should worry the rest of the Big 12 going forward.

Colorado's defensive line entered play ranked 102nd nationally in sacks per game with just one. But it rose to the occasion on Saturday, living in the UCF backfield to sack KJ Jefferson five separate times and register an eye-popping 13 tackles for loss.

Sanders and Hunter playing starring roles is arguably the biggest guarantee in the Big 12. The lack of a supporting cast is what most pegged as the reason Colorado wouldn't compete for the conference title. Saturday showed that might not be the case - which should send shockwaves across both the Big 12 and the national landscape.

Auburn finds a new way to misery

If you look at the stats without the final score, it appears Auburn had a wonderful day at home against Oklahoma. The Tigers outgained the Sooners 482-291 in total yardage, and Payton Thorne - who got the start in Hugh Freeze's latest game of quarterback musical chairs - posted 338 yards passing and three touchdowns. However, in a moment of misfortune, the Tigers snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and suffered another crushing home loss.

With the defense largely holding Oklahoma in check in freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr.'s first road start, a careless turnover was the only thing that would doom Auburn late in the game while holding a five-point lead. Sure enough, Thorne misread the defense on an option route and threw a back-breaking pick-6 to seal Oklahoma's victory.

The setback dropped Freeze's record against FBS competition to a dismal 5-13 in his last 18 games. It's probably a safe bet that falls by another game with a road trip to Georgia next on the schedule.

Unlikely undefeateds

It's now the end of September and the list of remaining undefeated teams includes:

Those five teams combined for a 27-34 record last season but have ripped off a perfect 23-0 mark to begin the 2024 campaign. Impressively, Duke and Indiana make this list with brand-new coaches.

Curt Cignetti has installed an explosive offense in Bloomington. To prove it, Indiana hung 42 on Maryland Saturday, representing the fourth time in 50 games the Hoosiers have flown past the 40-point mark.

BYU followed up an impressive home win over Kansas State by racing to a huge lead and then holding on at Baylor while Duke roared back to win a rivalry contest over North Carolina.

Army and Navy both kept the dream of a Group of 5 playoff berth alive with comfortable wins this week.

Their records may look very different in the next couple of weeks, but the red-hot start from these five programs deserves a mention after the first month of the season.