ESPN
Sep 26, 2024, 10:00 AM ET
Week 5 is here as we gear up for another weekend filled with exciting matchups.
On Saturday, we’ll see a rematch of last season’s SEC championship game as No. 4 Alabama will play host to No. 2 Georgia in its first conference matchup of the season. Though each team has something different to focus on to gain a victory, which one will end up walking out of Bryant-Denny Stadium undefeated?
As we approach the end of the first month of the regular season, we take a look at five first-year starting quarterbacks and how they have performed under the spotlight, along with five early Heisman Trophy contenders.
Our college football experts give insight on players and key matchups to know about going into Week 5.
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SEC Championship rematch | Early Heisman watch | New conference enemy
First year starting QBs
What teams need to capitalize on to win
Georgia: If Georgia is going to extend its 42-game winning streak in the regular season and its streak of 16 straight victories on the road, it’s going to have to be successful on third downs on both sides of the ball. On defense, the Bulldogs have to get Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe to the ground. In last year’s 27-24 loss to Alabama in the SEC championship gameMilroe had 71 rushing yards after contact, the second-highest total of his career, according to ESPN Research. That was the highest rushing total by a quarterback given up by a Kirby Smart-coached defense at Georgia, and Alabama’s 128 rushing yards after contact was the second-worst total of his tenure.
Milroe is running the ball even more under new coach Kalen DeBoer. The Bulldogs didn’t tackle well in their 13-12 win at Kentucky on Sept. 14, and they’ll have to do a better job against Alabama, especially on third down. On offense, Georgia has to get quarterback Carson Beck into a rhythm early and get him confident in throwing the ball to the middle of the field again. The Bulldogs have to figure out a way to get the ball to their top playmakers such as Trevor Etienne, Dillon Bell and Dominic Lovett and take advantage of the Tide’s unproven secondary. Georgia didn’t score a touchdown in the first half of two of its three games so far — it can’t afford another slow start against the Tide. Georgia has to convert third downs and produce sustained drives on offense. — Mark Schlabach
Alabama: The Crimson Tide will look to make Georgia play from behind, especially with what should be a raucous night crowd at Bryant-Denny Stadium. This is an Alabama team hell bent on proving the Crimson Tide are still the Crimson Tide even if Nick Saban is no longer their coach. Getting ahead early, building momentum and getting the crowd revved up would be the perfect recipe for an Alabama team already plenty motivated. Georgia struggled two weeks ago on offense, and Alabama would love to put Carson Beck in a position where he has to throw the ball 35 or 40 times.
On offense, Alabama needs to find a way to make some big plays, especially with Georgia expected to return several of its top defensive linemen who’ve been out because of injuries. Even shorthanded, the Bulldogs have given up only two plays of 20 yards or longer in their first three games. That’s where Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe and speedy freshman receiver Ryan Williams play a role. Milroe is dynamic at avoiding the rush and ripping off big gains running the ball, and he also throws the deep ball extremely well. Williams already has four touchdown catches and is averaging 28.5 yards per catch. Georgia’s defense is too good to pound away at it consistently on long drives, making it all the more important for Alabama to strike down the field on offense. — Chris Low
Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter:
If Hunter isn’t at the top of your Heisman list right now, you’re not doing it right.
In Colorado’s win against BaylorHunter became the first FBS player in the past 20 seasons with 100 receiving yards and a defensive forced fumble. Against Colorado Statehe had two receiving touchdowns and an interception — to go along with 100 receiving yards on 13 receptions. So far, he has five receiving touchdowns, a defensive interception and a forced fumble near the goal line that won the game in overtime against Baylor.
(It’s not even October yet).
It seems as if every time Hunter steps on the field, he accomplishes something that hasn’t been done in decades. In Week 3 against Colorado State, Hunter became the first FBS player with two receiving touchdowns, 100 receiving yards and a defensive interception since Kansas State’s Kevin Lockett in 1996 against Kansas.
If the stats aren’t enough to impress Heisman voters, consider this: Hunter has played more than 100 snaps in every game entering Week 4. He’s so good, NFL scouts probably don’t know whether to draft him on offense or defense. — Heather Dinich
Two years ago, Oklahoma‘s Caleb Williams was the biggest prize in the quarterback transfer portal and went on to win the Heisman at USC. The same thing could happen this fall with Ward.
The former Washington State quarterback, coveted last winter by just about every deep-pocketed school needing a starter, has managed to exceed expectations in his first month on the field for the Canes. Ward is completing 72.4% of his passes (his career high for a season is 66.6%) for 1,429 yards with 14 touchdowns and only two interceptions. He has at least 304 passing yards and three touchdowns in each of his four starts.
Ward also brings the swagger that suits the U and has delivered several Heisman-esque moments already, including telling South Florida’s defense where a goal-line run play would go before a Miami touchdown.
“He has a unique blend of personality,” offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said. “He’s a very, very fun guy to be around, but when it’s time to play ball and time to get on somebody’s ass, he doesn’t have an issue doing that. He holds his teammates to a very high standard.”
Ward has put Miami on a path to its first CFP appearance. If he keeps this up, he has a great chance to continue the trend of transfer quarterbacks winning the Heisman. — Adam Rittenberg
It’s way past time that we as Heisman Trophy voters think outside the box a little bit, or better yet, look outside the power conferences when choosing the most outstanding player in college football.
I haven’t seen a better player, a more dynamic player or even more entertaining player at this point than Jeanty. He’s a do-it-all player who’s leading the country in rushing yards per game (195.3) and is tied for second in rushing touchdowns this season with nine in three games. It certainly shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone the 5-foot-9, 215-pound junior is shredding opposing defenses. He was second nationally a year ago in all-purpose yards per game (159.7) and scored 19 touchdowns. Jeanty hasn’t been overly involved as a receiver this season, but he’s a big-time threat as a pass catcher out of the backfield. A year ago, he had 43 catches for 569 yards.
Jeanty gets another chance on a bigger stage this weekend as the No. 25 Broncos take on Washington State at home. He rolled up 197 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-34 loss to Oregon on Sept. 7 in Eugene. Oregon coach Dan Lanning said what defenders trying to tackle Jeanty have been saying since he was a freshman.
“He doesn’t go down on first contact ever,” Lanning said of Jeanty, who’s averaging 10.5 yards per rush, including 6.3 yards after contact.
And when Jeanty gets a little daylight, forget about it. He already has four runs of 60 yards or longer this season, including three of 70 yards or longer.
One of the best parts of Jeanty’s story is that he stayed loyal to Boise State and didn’t bolt this offseason amid the transfer portal frenzy.
“Knowing the legacy I can leave behind and the impact that I can have to change people’s lives is important,” he said. — Low
Be Miss QB Jaxson Dart:
There are the obvious caveats here about early season stats and how they often aren’t sustainable, but we should still take a moment to marvel at how Dart has performed. He’s averaging 13.06 yards per pass attempt, while completing 79.8% of his passes.
Not to get too sophisticated with advanced analytical modeling, but what this means is that Ole Miss’ offense has been unstoppable.
Yards per attempt is a decent indicator for Heisman success. Jayden Daniels (11.66, 2023), Kyler Murray (11.57, 2018) and Baker Mayfield (11.45, 2017) all led the country in the stat during their Heisman years and only Coastal Carolina’s Grayson McCall has had a better single-season average than those three in college football over the past decade. It’s unfair to compare Dart’s sample size to theirs, but it’s still worth noting he leads the nation in that category. Ole Miss also ranks No. 3 in points per drive (4.23), No. 2 in lowest punt percentage (7.7%) and is ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
This is all to say he has played well enough to be in the conversation — for now. Dart has benefitted from the second-easiest schedule to this point among power conference teams, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index. If he is a true contender later in the year, it will be because of what he does from this point forward. — Kyle Bonagura
SMU TB Brashard Smith:
How about we go way off the board?
When Smith was coming out of high school, he was a star receiver and return man committed to Floridabut Rhett Lashlee — then the offensive coordinator at Miami — lured him to the Hurricanes instead. In his first three seasons with the Canes, Smith had his share of big plays, but he never really found his niche. By the end of 2023, he was looking for a new home, and he hoped it might be at SMU, where Lashlee was now the head coach.
“We didn’t really have a need, but we remembered how talented he was,” Lashlee said.
A few other former Miami players now at SMU lobbied for Smith, too, and so the idea kept bouncing around Lashlee’s mind until he happened to catch a Kansas City Chiefs game on TV last December and noticed the impact of tailback Isiah Pacheco.
“He makes a few runs, catches a pass out of the backfield,” Lashlee said, “and I’m like, ‘That looks like Brashard.'”
Lashlee pitched Smith on the idea of coming to SMU as a tailback and it already looks like a stroke of genius. In a win over rival TCU last week, Smith had 18 carries for 127 yards and three touchdowns, caught two balls for 24 yards and another TD and returned a kick 39 yards. For the season, he’s one of only five players nationally with at least 570 all-purpose yards and seven touchdowns.
“He makes people miss,” Lashlee said of Smith, “and we’re making teams defend the whole field.” — David Hale
Get to know your new conference enemy
When Texas announced its move to the SEC, Longhorns fans might not have expected to be nearly 40-point favorites in their first conference game. But No. 1 Texas is rolling along while Mississippi State is struggling, with first-year head coach Jeff Lebby and the Bulldogs heading to Austin with a 1-3 record, including a 41-17 loss to To of ice in Starkville, and with a true freshman making his first start at quarterback after a season-ending injury to Blake Shapen. Texas, meanwhile, is 4-0, and has defeated Michigan in Ann Arbor en route to outscoring its opponents by 168 points this year, most through the first four games of a season since 1977, despite starting quarterback Quinn Ewers‘ injury.
The big-picture view doesn’t look good for Mississippi State’s defense, the SEC’s second worst in yards allowed at 417 per game, matching up with a Longhorns offense that averages 511 and has scored 50 points in four straight home games. The two programs have met only four times in history, first in 1921, then not again for 70 years. Between 1991 and 1999, former Texas A&M coach Jackie Sherrill went 2-1 against the Longhorns as Bulldogs coach, with the Longhorns losing the two regular-season games before winning the 1999 Cotton Bowl. Now 25 years later, they’re facing off as conference rivals for the first time. Lebby, who grew up in Texas and played at Oklahoma before coaching stops at Baylor and OU, knows what he’s up against. But that won’t make this any easier of a challenge. — Dave Wilson
Breaking down first-year starting QBs
Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola: The five-star signee has been everything Nebraska had hoped for and more through four starts. Raiola has put up 967 passing yards with a 72% completion rate and eight touchdowns and two interceptions during the Huskers’ 3-1 start. As Nebraska defensive coordinator Tony White put it Tuesday, Raiola has been “balling his ass off.”
Raiola continues to show off impressive arm talent and confidence in operating a college offense. The Patrick Mahomes comparisons are sure to continue, too. After struggling in 2023, Nebraska has almost doubled its passing yards per game output (from 135.9 to 261.8) with Raiola behind center.
Kansas State’s Avery Johnson: Johnson is coming off the first loss of his stint as starting QB, a rough 38-9 road rout at BYU in which he finished with only 130 passing yards and two interceptions. It was the first real setback for a speedy sophomore who has flashed big-time potential.
Johnson leads all Big 12 QBs in rushing (261 yards) and has produced 881 total yards with six TDs and three interceptions through four games. K-State has the No. 15 rushing offense in FBS and Johnson recorded his first career 100-yard rushing performance in a dominant win over Arizona. If Johnson can keep progressing, this team should be a Big 12 title contender.
Tennessee‘s Nico Iamaleava: How dominant have the Vols been on offense? Their redshirt freshman star didn’t get to play a full game until Week 4. Iamaleava has lived up to all the hype and led Tennessee up to No. 5 in the AP poll after an impressive 25-15 road win at Oklahoma.
The Vols are scoring 54 points per game with a talented young QB, who’s proving he can masterfully command Josh Heupel’s offense. Iamaleava has accounted for 1,009 total yards of offense and eight TDs while averaging 10.1 yards per pass attempt (11th in FBS). He makes this team a legitimate College Football Playoff contender.
USC’s Miller Moss: In this era, blue-chip quarterbacks almost never wait until Year 4 of their career to become QB1. Moss’ decision to stay in Los Angeles and keep competing is paying off in a big way. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound redshirt junior ranks second in the Big Ten in passing yards per game with 890 yards, five touchdowns and one interception through three starts for the No. 13 Trojans. Lincoln Riley was pleased with Moss’ response to his first major road test of his career, a 27-24 last-second loss at Michigan, and felt his QB gave the Trojans a chance to win in Ann Arbor.
“A game like that, as a quarterback, tests your patience and it tests your resolve,” Riley said this week. “I thought he was incredible steady with a great mindset the entire way through.”
Utah’s Isaac Wilson: The four-star in-state signee from Corner Canyon High and younger brother of Denver Broncos quarterback Zach Wilson has been thrust into immediate playing time as a true freshman for the No. 10 Utes, while veteran starter Cameron Rising deals with a right hand injury.
Wilson has won two road starts and passed a tough test against Oklahoma Stateputting up 207 passing yards, 41 rushing yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in a 22-19 win that earned him Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors. Coach Kyle Whittingham says the staff is ready to trust Wilson with the full playbook and game plan going forward and he has earned the confidence of his teammates. Rising is still the starter when healthy, but Wilson continues to make a big impression. — Max Olson