College football Week 5 highlights - top plays, games, takeaways - ESPN

The king is dead. Long live the king.

Also, that king is probably not entirely dead, which is either the fun or the flaw of a 12-team playoff.

It'd be easy enough to say Saturday night's epic battle between Georgia and Alabama was simply an appetizer, the Bloomin' Onion to the playoff's 64-ounce filet. Indeed, nothing that happened on the field at Bryant Denny Stadium will ultimately guarantee a playoff bid or end anyone's playoff hopes. If anything, the ridiculous, frenetic, chaotic conclusion serves as evidence that both these teams deserve to be playing deep into the postseason.

But none of that mattered Saturday.

On one side was the 800-pound gorilla, a Georgia team that hadn't lost in the regular season since November of 2020 but found itself down four touchdowns early in the second quarter. It was enough to stun even the most reserved among us.

On the other side was the team that has defined the modern era of college football, but now with a new head coach looking to prove Alabama's greatness didn't end with Nick Saban's coaching career. Saban had to wait until Year 2 to earn a signature win — against Georgia, as it happened — but Kalen DeBoer was here to prove he was ahead of schedule.

There were two quarterbacks vying for Heisman Trophy hype. There were two defenses playing at the top of their game on one drive and overwhelmed by explosive talent on the next. There were veterans Aiden Smith and Dillon Bell combining for 232 yards and two touchdowns, and there was 17-year-old freshman Ryan Williams, less aged that half our T-shirts, exploding for 177 yards, including the game-winning score.

Georgia and Alabama trade leads on roller-coaster plays, trading 60+ yard touchdowns on consecutive plays late in the fourth