college football

Clark Lea, who led the Commodores to a win over then-No. 1 Alabama, has turned in the top coaching performance at the midpoint of the season, according to voting from 10 reporters who cover the SEC for The Associated Press. UA QB Jalen Milroe was picked as the top offensive player and South Carolina's Kyle Kennard nabbed defensive recognition.

Gio Lopez threw for 158 yards and a touchdown, and he added 67 yards rushing with another score to help South Alabama beat Troy 25-9 in the Battle for the Belt. South Alabama (3-4, 2-1 Sun Belt) beat Troy (1-6, 0-3) for the first time since 2017.

Plenty of playoff contenders suddenly find themselves dealing with major injuries in the college football season. Mertz and Pili both got injured in No. 11 Tennessee’s 23-17 overtime victory over Florida. Pili’s ACL injury leaves the Volunteers without one of their team captains as they prepare to host No. 7 Alabama on Saturday.

The leaders of the SEC and Big Ten want to see how the first year of the expanded College Football Playoff works before deciding what comes next. The presidents and athletic sidrcot met at a Nashville hotel with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti going over the changing landscape of college athletics.

Alabama’s stunning loss was splashed across headlines and screens nationwide. South Carolina didn’t get quite so much attention but is trying to bounce back from its own embarrassing performance in a 27-3 loss to No. 9 Mississippi. It’s time to see how they both respond on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

An Alabama Law student and Alabama Military Law Society president will lead his company in a four AH-64 Apache helicopter flyover for the Alabama vs. South Carolina football game on Oct. 12 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The University of Alabama is announcing Kyle Wise is taking to the sky.

The Southeastern Conference’s biggest shakeups haven’t come courtesy of newcomers Oklahoma and Texas so far, but from more unlikely culprits. Think Kentucky over Mississippi, Arkansas over Tennessee, Texas A&M over Missouri. And the ultimate shocker: Vanderbilt over then-No. 1 Alabama for the first time in 40 years.

For Nick Saban, it was Louisiana-Monroe. Kalen DeBoer also has now endured a stunning loss in his debut season at Alabama with a loss to Vanderbilt that dealt a massive but not necessarily fatal blow to the now seventh-ranked Crimson Tide’s playoff and Southeastern Conference title hopes.

Alabama safety Malachi Moore has apologized for his late-game outburst in a loss to Vanderbilt. The two-time team captain shoved Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia's head toward the ground at the end of a play, threw his mouthguard and drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for kicking the football in the 40-35 upset that cost the Crimson Tide the No. 1 ranking.

Longtime Associated Press Top 25 voter Kirk Bohls of the Houston Chronicle said this week's ballot was the most difficult he's had to fill out. Six unranked teams upset Top 25 teams. Texas returned to No. 1 after a week’s absence. The biggest questions were how far to drop Alabama for losing to Vanderbilt and what to do with Georgia.