College Football Saturday Recap: Alabama completes thrilling win over Georgia, Arch Manning impresses for Texas

CNN
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No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide celebrated one of the most exciting victories of the college football season on Saturday, defeating the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs in dramatic fashion, 41-34.

The Crimson Tide led for most of the game and dominated the first half to take a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter. Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck threw two interceptions.

Alabama went into halftime with a 30-7 lead, but then the game turned around in the second half. Georgia cut the deficit to 33-15 early in the fourth quarter, scoring three unanswered touchdowns and taking a 34-33 lead with just 2:31 remaining in the game.

On the very next offensive play, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe found freshman star wide receiver Ryan Williams for a 75-yard touchdown to regain the lead. Williams still had a lot of work to do: He spun to avoid the defense and charged into the end zone.

“I just had to do my part to help us finish this game,” the 17-year-old said afterwards, according to ESPN. “We would have come too far. Someone had to make a play.

Beck led the Bulldogs down the field but threw his third interception of the game in the end zone as Alabama held on for the win and improved to 4-0. Georgia falls to 3-1.

Elsewhere, Arch Manning, the nephew of Peyton and Eli, impressed in No. 1 Texas’ 35-13 win over Mississippi State, the Longhorns’ first SEC win.

Although Texas committed several errors, including eight penalties on offense, a confident Manning – who went 26 of 31 for 324 yards and two touchdowns – and a solid defensive performance led the team to 5-0.

Meanwhile, in Oxford, the Kentucky Wildcats defeated No. 6 Ole Miss 20-17 in the program’s largest road win since 1977 and only its fifth win ever over a team ranked in the top six.

The Cats stifled Ole Miss’ high-octane offense – much to the visible frustration of Rebels coach Lane Kiffin – and then converted a huge fourth down from deep in their own territory on their final drive to march all the way to the end zone for a 20-17 lead .

Ole Miss had time to mount a drive of its own, but Rebels kicker Caden Davis hit a game-winning attempt from 48 yards wide of the left net.

“Just a hard-fought, tough game,” coach Mark Stoops told reporters afterward. “Just proud of our coaches for staying the course… We’ve gotten better every week… We couldn’t be prouder of the effort. I know it’s one game, but it’s important because of the work that’s been done for a long time.”

No. 12 Michigan appeared to be on its way to victory against Minnesota, holding a 24-3 lead after the third quarter, but the Golden Gophers fought back late before the Wolverines won 27-24.

In front of 110,340 spectators, Michigan took a commanding lead as its defense forced two turnovers, recorded four sacks and eight tackles for a loss and blocked a punt.

But Minnesota racked up three touchdowns in the fourth quarter until the late charge was halted by a controversial penalty with 1:40 left as Michigan was sent off for an offside call against the Gophers.