It’s the video games, silly.
Wasn’t Alabama-Georgia the newest reminder that irrespective of how a lot faculty soccer has modified, the sport is why we watch.
Take your 12 workforce Playoff, switch portal and NIL grievances some other place as a result of the sport is what has at all times been compelling about this sport.
And sure, it’s completely different down right here, on Saturdays Down South.
From the second Saban and the Bear seem on the video boards at Bryant-Denny Stadium to the second Zabien Brown hauled in the game-clinching interception, halting a frenetic Georgia comeback for good, it’s the video games.
Campuses reside and breathe for the video games. Families reunite and in some circumstances, collapse. Coaches, a few of them narcissistic maniacs, insist furiously that they’d win 9 of 10 video games on Mondays after which blow 11-point fourth-quarter leads the following Saturday. What the coach says on Mondays doesn’t matter as a lot once you win the sport.
When you do lose, the feeling is sort of non secular. You really feel it in your bones and in the quiet of your Sunday morning espresso.
You may even hear about it at your home of worship. After all, there’s no scarcity of parents down right here who received’t hit their knees ask God to favor their workforce and hope, in opposition to hope, that the prayers going up in the identical second asking God to favor the different workforce aren’t answered.
There’s an ideal story my Dad used to inform about yours actually when, after a uncommon loss in the Steve Spurrier period, I requested my Dad why God didn’t “smile on the Gators” that day, as Spurrier himself was fond of claiming.
“God,” my Dad advised me plaintively, “expects you not to throw 5 interceptions.”
Saturday evening in Tuscaloosa was the newest reminder that it’s the video games that make this sport.
All the modifications come so quick and livid that it's simple to lose that for a second or perhaps a few interminable offseason months, I suppose.
But the video games make the sport. They are why males like my uncle sit round automotive mechanic outlets in Jacksonville, Florida, on Fridays in an previous Gators shirt and males like my buddy Ryland put on a crimson and black tie to show Sunday college. They are why the south has fewer weddings on autumn Saturdays than some other space in the United States and why grown males from Ohio received’t purchase gasoline in Michigan.
The video games are why this sport is a material stitched via each inch and fiber of our lives.
Here in the SEC, the video games produce the greatest gamers.
“The List” contains a host of modifications this week, together with the look of a sure Alabama quarterback again in the high 10 for the first time since the finish of the 2023 season. “The List” rewards manufacturing — and we advised y’all the cream tends to rise to the high.
As at all times, honorable mentions come first, restricted to 2 per program. Last week’s “List” is right here for these scoring at house.
Alabama: Deontae Lawson, LB; Jihaad Campbell, LB. Arkansas: Ja’Quinden Jackson, RB; Landon Jackson, DL. Auburn: KeAndre Lambert-Smith, WR; Jalen McLeod, LB. Florida: Jason Marshall Jr., DB. Georgia: Carson Beck, QB; Malaki Starks, S. Kentucky: Deone Walker, DT; Jamon Dumas-Johnson, LB. LSU: Will Campbell, OT; Garrett Nussmeier, QB. Mississippi State: Stone Blanton, LB. Missouri: Luther Burden III, WR; Connor Tollison, C. Oklahoma: Kip Lewis, LB; R Mason Thomas, DL. Ole Miss: Chris Paul Jr., LB; Jaxson Dart, QB. South Carolina: Dylan Stewart, Edge; Kyle Kennard, Edge. Tennessee: Joshua Josephs, Edge; Nico Iamaleava, QB. Texas: Vernon Broughton, DT; Andrew Mukuba, DB. Texas A&M: Reuben Fatheree II, OL; Nic Scourton, Edge. Vanderbilt: Diego Pavia, QB; Steve Hubbard, OL.
10. Robert Spears-Jennings, S (Oklahoma)
The high ranked security in the nation, per PFF, Spears-Jennings and the Sooners’ protection keyed Oklahoma’s fourth quarter rally on The Plains. Spears-Jennings had 6 tackles and a sack, elevating his season complete in tackles to 35 with a team-best 24 of these of the solo selection. The junior has additionally collected 2 sacks, compelled 2 fumbles, recovered a fumble and intercepted a cross. Not a foul month’s work for the anchor of a stout Oklahoma protection which ranks 14th in SP+ defensive efficiency and 15th in defensive success rate.
9. Chris McClellan, DT (Missouri)
Missouri struck portal gold after they landed McClellan from Florida this winter. Leaner and faster off the snap then in his time at Florida, McClellan has 17 tackles, 2 sacks, a compelled fumble, 2 cross deflections, 10 pressures and eight quarterback hurries in 4 video games for the Tigers. McClellan is grading out at 80.4 as a cross rusher — a virtually 25-point grade soar from his time at Florida, which makes you marvel precisely what Billy Napier’s employees was making an attempt to do when deploying the former top-100 recruit.
8. Princely Umanmielen, Edge (Ole Miss)
Like McClellan, Umanmielen left Florida for one other SEC vacation spot this offseason and the transfer is paying dividends. The senior defensive lineman is grading out at 87.5, per PFF, a 10-point leap from what was a productive junior 12 months at Florida the place he led the Gators (and ranked third in the SEC) in quarterback pressures. While Umanmielen misplaced a third straight sport to Kentucky on Saturday, he was lively in defeat, registering 5 tackles, 2 sacks and three tackles for loss. On the season, Umanmielen has 20 quarterback pressures, 11 hurries, 4 sacks and 6 tackles for loss.
7. Nick Emmanwori, S (South Carolina)
The Gamecocks have been idle this week as they prepared for No. 12 Ole Miss in Columbia this weekend. Emmanwori and a vastly improved Gamecocks protection will probably be examined by an explosive Ole Miss offense that ought to arrive to Williams-Brice Stadium indignant. A giant hitter with excellent protection potential, Emmanwori might want to play his greatest soccer for South Carolina to win.
6. Kelvin Banks, OL (Texas)
The SEC’s highest graded tackle, per PFF, Banks earned SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors in Texas’ 35-13 win over Miss State. The Longhorns gained 522 yards, together with 198 yards dashing, on the afternoon in Arch Manning’s second profession begin. Banks protected the younger quarterback completely, permitting zero sacks or pressures from the blind facet as Manning accomplished 26-of-31 passes for 324 yards with 2 touchdowns. Banks and the Texas offense rank third in SP+ effectivity on offense and 4th in success price offense via the season’s opening month.
5. D’Eryk Jackson, LB (Kentucky)
Does Jackson soar off the movie with athleticism like fellow defender Deone Walker? Nope.
Does Jackson play with one in all the highest IQs in the sport and barely miss a sort out? Yep.
Excellent persistence and imaginative and prescient from Kentucky LB D'Eryk Jackson (#54). Remains disciplined for the TFL in opposition to Ole Miss. pic.twitter.com/xviyHeH4td
— Ryan Roberts (@RiseNDraft) September 30, 2024
The veteran Kentucky linebacker returns to “The List” for a second consecutive season after a 7-tackle, 2-tackle for loss efficiency in Kentucky’s upset win at No. 6 Ole Miss. On the season, Jackson has a team-high 26 tackles, together with 3 for loss and 4 cross breakups, for a protection that ranks seventeenth in SP+ defensive effectivity and 14th in success price protection. Jackson’s fundamentals, which included the lowest missed sort out share in the SEC over the previous 3 seasons, ought to give him an opportunity to play in the NFL subsequent 12 months.
4. Tre Harris, WR (Ole Miss)
Ole Miss gained 353 yards in their 20-17 loss to Kentucky on Saturday.
Tre Harris gained 176 — almost half.
This 48-yard catch, reduce and run landing gave Ole Miss the lead coming into the fourth quarter.
Tre Harris seems like a type of WRs who’s simply going to be a *actually* good professional.
Play power, physique management, RAC. Reliable producer.
— Ian Cummings (@IC_Draft) September 28, 2024
Harris had a quiet fourth quarter, catching simply 1 cross on 3 targets on 3 Ole Miss possessions, together with their last one, which ended in a missed kick by Caden Davis. But in his first sport this season in opposition to a top quality protection, Harris confirmed up and confirmed out, catching 11 passes for 176 yards and a landing. Had he acquired just a little assist from his mates, Ole Miss probably leaves the sport unbeaten.
3. Ryan Williams, WR (Alabama)
Have you heard that Ryan Williams is barely 17?
The freshman sensation turned Biletnikoff Award frontrunner pulled Alabama out of the hearth on Saturday evening when he made this stupendous play to present the Crimson Tide the lead again late in the fourth quarter.
Been doing this scouting factor a very long time and that is one in all the wildest performs I've ever seen a wideout make. pic.twitter.com/tKkrrJZZKb
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) (*6*)
The “Baby Julio” and “Justin Jefferson” comparisons appeared untimely after they have been made a month in the past. Not anymore. And what if Williams is healthier — extra fluid than Julio and extra expert as a route runner early in his profession than Jefferson? What if, as Dave Waters of the great podcast Gators Breakdown stated this week, “Ryan Williams is the first Ryan Williams?”
A cousin in Muscle Shoals texted me the most correct “Roll Tide” synopsis late Saturday evening, moments after the Williams catch.
“That recruiting battle is the moment I fell in love with Kalen DeBoer.”
I get it.
2. Jalen Milroe, QB (Alabama)
A maestro of a efficiency lands Milroe in the Top 10 after lingering in the Honorable Mentions.
The numbers have been close to good: 27-for-33 passing with 374 yards and a couple of touchdowns, together with the sport winner to Williams, coupled with a workforce excessive 117 yards dashing and a couple of extra touchdowns. “The List” may gush about the improved reads and accuracy of Milroe as a thrower, and imagine us, there will probably be weeks of that to come back.
But Milroe’s management and poise received that sport for Alabama, which has nonetheless not misplaced an SEC sport that Milroe has began.
Would we wish to see Milroe persistently play like this as a passer? Of course. But when the lights have been brightest, Alabama’s All-SEC quarterback answered the bell.
1. Dylan Sampson, RB (Tennessee)
A bye week doesn't displace Sampson from the high of “The List.”
The Vols’ offense is rolling, rating fifth in SP+ offensive effectivity, 3rd in total offense, and leading the country in scoring.
Their greatest participant is Sampson, who ranks 4th in the SEC in dashing yards (449) and yards per try (6.5), and No. 1 in touchdowns (10). Sampson additionally grades out as the SEC’s greatest operating again, per PFF, a testomony to his potential to affect the sport not solely as a runner however as a cross catcher and blocker.
This stays the best, constant participant in the SEC via a month of soccer.
