Ohio State and Miami are emerging as the nation’s most complete college football teams.
Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin is a top contender for the Heisman Trophy.
Alabama is showing signs of improvement and could contend for the SEC Championship.
Are dynasties dead? Ryan Day’s Ohio State Buckeyes might like a word.
While Texas burns cash with a roster going bust, Ohio State keeps getting return on investment.
We focused on the wrong five-star quarterback in that Week 1 game in Columbus, Ohio. Arch Manning’s uncorking interceptions and wobblers. Julian Sayin’s slinging completions.
Dominant though No. 1 Ohio State remains, let’s hold off on crowning them repeat champions. Miami’s got something brewing behind Carson Beck.
Julian Sayin for Heisman? He’s a contender
Everything’s breaking Miami’s way, except that a twin monster is forming at Ohio State.
Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin threw 27 passes in a 42-3 rout of Minnesota. Twenty-three found their mark. If you hold a Heisman Trophy betting slip with Sayin’s name on it, you’re fantasizing about that Caribbean vacation you might finally be able to afford.
Too bad an entire unit can’t win the Heisman, because Ohio State’s defense is allowing five points per game. Through five games, no opponent has reached double digits against the Buckeyes.
Lane Kiffin told ESPN recently he thinks “dynasties are over” in this era of NIL and transfer free agency. Clarification: SEC dynasties are a thing of the past, but a budding dynasty takes shape in Columbus.
Only Miami looks as complete as Ohio State.
Miami’s a beast
If you only looked at the Miami-Florida State box score, you might think you missed an instant classic. You didn’t. Miami routed the Seminoles until Florida State rallied with a barrage of fourth-quarter scores.
Folks, Miami possesses the total package. Carson Beck is slinging touchdown passes. The wide receivers are speedy. The defense is the best of Mario Cristobal’s tenure.
Miami keeps making a pitch that it’s the nation’s most-complete team, or at least the best total package south of Columbus, Ohio.
The Hurricanes don’t have any ranked opponents left on their schedule. They’re set up to waltz into the College Football Playoff as either a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. Once in the postseason, they could play two-thirds of their games at Hard Rock Stadium. The Orange Bowl will host a quarterfinal game, and Hard Rock will host the national championship.
Alabama playing more like a playoff contender
The Crimson Tide beat Vanderbilt 30-14, and the margin could have been worse. Alabama dominated the Commodores and their yappy quarterback, Diego Pavia, and that makes two impressive wins in a row for Kalen DeBoer, who’s turning down the heat after a Week 1 debacle.
The SEC race remains a delightful mess. The conference is filled with a bunch of pretty good teams, a few underachieving teams and no great teams.
Alabama has four games left against ranked opponents, but the Tide retain as good of a chance as any of making the SEC Championship.
Unlike the quarterback in Austin, Texas, Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson keeps sharpening. He’s gone from question mark in Week 1 to asset by midseason.
Next, Alabama hits the road against Missouri for a chance at three consecutive ranked wins. Win at Faurot Field, and Alabama will show it possesses what last year’s team sorely lacked: consistency.
Revisiting Texas
I mentioned it in this column, and I’m not kidding about Steve Sarkisian needing to strongly consider handing the offense to backup QB Matthew Caldwell, but the timing is tough. Next up is Oklahoma, and no matter who plays quarterback for Texas, the Longhorns are on the ropes.
The Sooners will start their own backup, Michael Hawkins Jr., while John Mateer recovers from hand surgery. A loss to a second-string quarterback would cripple Texas’ playoff aspirations.
Three and out
1. There’s a possibility shaping up the SEC could lead all conferences in playoff qualifiers, but not advance a team to the CFP semifinals. The SEC is the nation’s deepest league, and it doesn’t include many bad teams. I’m also not seeing an elite team, though, like I see in the Big Ten and in the ACC.
2. Penn State and Notre Dame join Texas to make three preseason darlings with two losses apiece. They’re on the verge of playoff elimination. The Irish have the best chance from that trio of making the playoff, for two reasons. CJ Carr gives Notre Dame a better quarterback than Texas has in Manning or Penn State has in Drew Allar, and the Irish’s schedule, filled with mediocre opponents, plays nicely into a playoff pursuit.
3. Mark Stoops told reporters after Kentucky’s 21-point loss to Georgia that there’s “zero chance” he’s “walking away” from this job. Translation: There’s zero chance he’s walking away without a massive pile of severance cash. Stoops’ buyout before the season started checked in at about $40 million. At Texas, that’s enough to buy an underachieving roster.
This story was updated to change a video.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
