Mr. CFB: Nick Saban Has A Decision To Make. But He Doesn't Have A Choice
It always happens.
You look at the schedule and the best thing you can say about it is that it is "thin."
That's what all of us were saying about Saturday, Sept. 16. And, as is almost always the case, we were strong. Strange things happen on "thin" weekends and that is what makes college football the best game in the world. Here are Five Things We Learned on Week 3:
1--Nick Saban has a decision to make at quarterback, but he really doesn't have a choice.
After Jalen Milroe struggled to protect the football in a 24-14 loss to Texas on Sept. 9 Saban, the greatest coach of all time, decided to play his other two quarterbacks--Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson--in a non-conference game at South Florida. The results were not pretty.
Buchner was pulled from the game after completing 5 of 14 passes with some inexplicable throws. Simpson completed five of nine and finished the game, a less-than-inspiring 17-3 Alabama win.
Alabama fell out of the Associated Press Top 10 for the first time since 2015.
Saban said after the game that the staff would assess the play of all three quarterbacks and make a decision on who will start on Saturday against Ole Miss. (3:30 p.m. CBS).
It says here that Saban has to go back to Milroe because his athletiticsm gives Alabama a chance to score enough points to hang with Ole Miss.
"He (Milroe) made plenty of mistakes against Texas but he has talent," SEC Network host Paul Finebam told ESPN's SportsCenter on Sunday morning. "He can run the ball. He cant make big plays."
Saban will hold his regularly-scheduled press conference on Monday.
2--Billy Napier finally got his signature victory.
When a new coach takes over a high-profile program like Florida, he needs to post a signature victory that convinces the players and the fan base that he knows what he is doing and that they should listen to him
After losses last season to all four of Florida's historic rivals--LSU, Georgia, Florida State, and Tennessee--Billy Napier finally got that victory and in the process brought the magic back to The Swamp with a convincing 29-16 victory. The win was Florirda's 10th straight against Tennessee in The Swamp.
After opening this season with a mistake-filled 24-11 loss at Utah, many of the Florida faithful were convinced the Napier just wasn't the guy. And it didn't help to see Georgia winning two straight national championships and Tennessee winning 11 games last season.
But Florida had a great game plan, which resulted in Trevor Etienne rushing for 172 yards.
Florida hosts Charlottee this Saturday and then goes to Kentucky.
3--Ditto for Missouri's Coach Drink.
Eli Drinkwitz was considered a rising young coach when he left Appalachian State to become the head coach at Missouri at the age of 37.
But, like Napier, Drinkwitz had not posted a win to make his fans stand up and go "Wow" before Kansas State, the defending Big 12 champions, came to Columbia, Mo. on Saturday.
He came close last season at home when the Tigers had a double-digit lead against Georgia, the defending national champions, but eventually lost 26-22.
The week before the Tigers lost 17-14 in overtime to Auburn in a game they lost when placekicker Harrrison Mervis missed a 26-yard field goal at the end of regulation.
Mervis more than made up for it on Saturday when he kicked an SEC record 61-yard field goal as time expired to give Missouri a 30-27 win.
Ironically, it should have been a 56-yard attempt but Missouri was penalized for delay of game. It's a good thing the kick wasn't short or Drinkwitz would have been catching heat instead of celebrating his signature win at Missouri.
4--LSU looked like a playoff team.
The most impressive performance of the weekend has to go to LSU, which dominated Mississippi State in Starkville 41-14. An 11 a.m. kick in a stadium full of cowbells was a recipe for a slow LSU start.
But LSU receiver Malik Nabers caught 13 passes for 239 yards and quarterback Jayden Daniels completed 30 of 34 passes for 361 yards and two touchdowns.
The Tigers got embarrassed 45-24 in their opener with Florida State in Orlando on Sept. 3.
LSU outgained Mississippi State 310-79 in the first half.
And with what we've seen from Alabama and Texas A&M, LSU looks like the pick in the SEC West.
What about Ole Miss, you say? The Rebels play Alabama, LSU, Arkansas and Auburn in their next fou games.
5--The real fun is now getting started for Coach Prime.
I had to weigh in orr the best story in college football. After coming from behind to beat Colorado State 43-35 in overtime Saturday night, Colorado and Coach Deion Sanders now move into the Pac-12 phase of their schedule.
The Buffaloes (3-0) travel to No. 10 Oregon (3-0) for a 3:30 p.m. ET game on ABC.
Next week they host No. 5 USC.
The early line released Sunday has Oregon as a 20.5-point favorite, That might seem high given what Colorado has already done but remember that two-way star Travis Hunter will be out with an jury.