Alabama quarterback Bryce Young is the Associated Press College Football Player of the Year, giving the Crimson Tide their second consecutive winner.
Young received 42 of 53 first-place votes from AP Top 25 voters and 137 points to easily finish ahead of Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (four first-place votes, 67 points) for the AP Player of the Year.
Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett was third, Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr. was fourth and Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud was fifth.
Young, Hutchinson, Pickett and Stroud are the finalists for the Heisman Trophy, which will be presented Saturday in New York.
A sophomore and first-year starter, Young passed for 4,322 yards and 43 touchdowns, leading the top-ranked Tide to the Southeastern Conference championship and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff. The Tide will face No. 4 Cincinnati on Dec. 31 at the Cotton Bowl.
Young said he felt well prepared for the challenge of leading a program that has set the standard in college football for more than a decade, but nothing speaks louder than performance.
“Settling in and getting to play in different environments, getting to be put in situations, naturally, makes you more comfortable as leaders,” Young told the AP. “It’s always about what you do in offseason, how you carry yourself, but any time you’re able to produce in big moments and you’re able to demonstrate a lot, that’s always a big part, as well. Because leadership is a lot about action.”
Young capped his season with an SEC championship game-record 421 yards passing against Georgia last week.
Alabama receiver DeVonta Smith became the first Alabama player to win AP Player of the Year in 2020. Young is the 18th quarterback to win the award since it was established in 1998.
Young, a Southern California native and former five-star recruit, said the high expectations are what drew him to Alabama and help motivate him.
“You want to live up to the pressure and to the hype of it all,” he said.
No. 3 Alabama completed a rally for the history books to knock off Auburn, 24-22, in four overtimes on Saturday night. The first game in Iron Bowl history to continue past regulation started with the Crimson Tide trailing 10-0 until midway through the fourth quarter. However, the Tide finally scored their first touchdown with 24 seconds left to force overtime, where the scoring continued.
Once there, the teams traded touchdowns in the first OT period and swapped field goals in the second to set up a battle of two-point conversion plays beginning with the third OT. After they each converted their first attempts, Alabama won the game in the fourth OT when wide receiver John Metchie III hauled in a pass from quarterback Bryce Young. A pass from Auburn QB T.J. Finley pass fell incomplete on the previous play.
Young struggled in the first half against a swarming Auburn defense but settled down late in the game. He hit Ja’Corey Brooks for a 28-yard touchdown with 24 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Brooks was playing a more prominent role in the game after Jameson Williams, Alabama’s top wide receiver and a Biletnikoff Award finalist, was ejected for targeting covering a punt in the second quarter. Without him, the Tide offense struggled for much of the day.
The Tigers had a great chance to run out the clock after Alabama turned the ball over on downs with 2 minutes left and just two timeouts remaining. However, Auburn running back Tank Bigsby stopped the clock by running out of bounds while striving for a first down on the ensuing possession. If he’d reached the first down marker, Auburn might have been able to run out the clock. Instead, Alabama got a stop on third down and regained the football back with enough time to drive for the game-tying score.
The victory sends Alabama (11-1) to next week’s 2021 SEC Championship Game against No. 1 Georgia (12-0) with momentum. The loss means that Auburn finishes the regular season with four consecutive defeats and a 6-6 overall record under first-year coach Bryan Harsin.
Here are the top takeaways from the Iron Bowl.
Alabama is still alive
There would have to have been a lot of chaos on Championship Weekend for a two-loss Alabama team that beats Georgia in the SEC Championship Game to make the College Football Playoff. Now, though, the committee will not have to worry.
Alabama survived on the road against a rival when everything went against it to make the SEC Championship Game with one loss. If it loses a close game to Georgia, will the committee penalize Alabama for losing a game that it played its way into despite several scares throughout the year? When you consider the landscape of this particular college football season, it’s a legitimate question.
One way for Alabama to make a big impression is to push Georgia into a shootout. Even if the Crimson Tide lose said hypothetical shootout, it would be the first time all season that Georgia’s defense would even be challenged, much less pushed to the brink.
Hand Young the Heisman now
The Heisman Trophy will belong to Bryce Young. No, his stats don’t jump off the page. He only completed 49% of his passes, was picked off once and looked rattled all night. That’s just it, though — he was rattled all night. His offensive line let him down in a big way, and he got up and fought through it play after play. His poise down the stretch, including the 97-yard, game-tying drive that culminated with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Brooks with 24 seconds to play earned him the right not only to be in New York as a finalist but to hoist the trophy himself.
Part of the reason that Young should make room on his trophy case is the fact that his only real competitor, Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, lost to Michigan earlier in the day and won’t play in the Big Ten Championship Game next weekend. Even if Young doesn’t light up the scoreboard against the Bulldogs, he at least led his team to championship weekend.
Young showed that he has the heart of a champion, and will get a chance to add on to his trophy collection next week when his Crimson Tide plays Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.
Alabama O-line is out of time
Alabama’s offensive line is a massive problem. The stats in this one don’t lie. The Crimson Tide managed just 64 rushing yards and, until the final two drives of regulation, didn’t show a sign of life. That’s on the big uglies up front because it always felt like the offense was going two steps forward, and then one step back.
That is unacceptable, but it’s also a trend. The Crimson Tide managed 91 last week against Arkansas, just 6 rushing yards against LSU earlier this month and 91 in the Florida game in September. If you hear a bizarre sound, it’s Georgia’s defensive front-licking its chops to get a hold of this offensive line next week in the SEC Championship Game.
Auburn’s defensive front brought it
Auburn defensive coordinator Derek Mason has been criticized all season for being too passive in the pass rush. That wasn’t the case on Saturday in the Iron Bowl. Mason brought pressure from all over the field, including delayed blitzes, stunts and just about everything else he could find in the playbook.
Yes, Alabama’s offensive line was really, really bad (see above). But this was not the kind of performance or game plan that Auburn employed all season. It was so frustrating that a hot topic of conversation on local radio this week was whether Mason and/or offensive coordinator Mike Bobo will be fired.
Bobo’s job might be on the line because, let’s be real, 159 total yards against any FBS team is atrocious. But Mason saved his and gave Auburn something to build on going into bowl practices.
Auburn played too conservative
The Tigers offense essentially played the entire game in a shell after it realized that the defense was having its way with the Tide offense. That’s fine. In fact, that’s the right thing for coach Bryan Harsin to do considering the way the game was going and the magnitude of its outcome.
In overtime, though, things should have changed, specifically after Auburn’s touchdown in the bottom of the first frame. A hobbled T.J. Finley found freshman tight end Landen King between two defenders for a one-handed touchdown for the ages. Harsin should have gone for two right there.
Forget playing conservative. All of the momentum already swung to the Crimson Tide sideline, and Finley could barely walk. That was the time for Harsin to put his stamp on the rivalry and roll the dice. Yes, it’d be risky. Auburn was playing with house money, though. It was the last game of the regular season in front of the home crowd. It was the perfect setting to live dangerously.
Bryce Young set the Alabama single-game passing record with 561 yards, running back Brian Robinson Jr. rushed for for 122 yards, and the No. 2 Crimson Tide survived a scare from No. 21 Arkansas in a 42-35 win at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In doing so, Bama clinched the SEC West division title and is now set to face No. 1 Georgia in the 2021 SEC Championship Game in two weeks.
Young, who completed 31-of-40 passes and tossed 5 touchdowns, surpassed the previous Tide record held by Scott Hunter, who threw for 484 yards in the 1969 Iron Bowl against Auburn. Young hit Jameson Williams on a 40-yard touchdown with 5:39 to play to make it 42-28 in what appeared to be a game-icing score. However, Arkansas drove right down the field with quarterback KJ Jefferson, who hit Raheim Sanders for a 17-yard touchdown with 1:02 to play to get the Hogs back within seven points. Cam Little’s onside kick attempt bounced out of bounds, and Young took two knees for the win.
Williams finished the afternoon with 8 catches for 190 yards and 3 TDs. He wasn’t the only elite playmaker outside for the Crimson Tide, though, as John Metchie III caught 10 balls for 173 yards and a 20-yard touchdown catch early in the second quarter.
It was the latest chapter in the storybook season for Young and the Tide offense. That unit finished Saturday with a 9.2 yards per play average and racked up 707 total yards against a Razorbacks defense the kept the Alabama offensive line guessing all afternoon. Arkansas’ offense moved up and down the field on Bama, though. Jefferson found star wide receiver Treylon Burks eight times for 179 yards and 2 TDs.
1. Young’s stellar season
Young is going to receive a ton of praise after this one, but it still won’t be enough. Simply put, this is the most impressive season from an Alabama quarterback of all time. Yes, Mac Jones was awesome last year, Tua Tagovailoa was a star before that and even Joe Namath had his moments in T-Town. Young is doing is just different.
Jones, Tagovailoa and the rest of the legendary quarterbacks in Alabama history had plenty of help on the ground. Young got some today — Bryan Robinson Jr. had 122 yards — but that hasn’t been the norm. The Crimson Tide were averaging just 3.76 yards per carry in conference games going into Saturday, which has forced Young to be “the man” from the start.
He has two more chances to prove just how good he is. You throw the records out the window in the Iron Bowl against Auburn in Jordan-Hare Stadium, a place Alabama hasn’t left with a win since 2015. Then, Georgia’s defense will try to solve the Young riddle in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta on Dec. 4.
Young is clearly up for the challenge.
2. It’s a two-man race for the Heisman
Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud became the talk of college football on Saturday afternoon when he lit up Michigan State with 432 yards and 6 touchdown passes in a 56-7 win for the fourth-ranked Buckeyes over No. 7 Michigan State. Young’s performance against the Razorbacks was the equivalent of a heavyweight fighter throwing a haymaker right after getting stung on the chin.
Apologies to Georgia defensive lineman Jordan Davis or anybody else that might have a chance at the Heisman Trophy, because the definition of “most outstanding player in college football” is open to interpretation. But let’s be honest, it has evolved into an award for the best skill player on a playoff-caliber team. Shroud and Young are the only two players in the country that check those boxes.
The two will still have big stages to play on. Shroud gets the rivalry with No. 6 Michigan next week, followed by what could be an appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game. Young has the Iron Bowl and a showdown with top-ranked Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.
The Heisman Trophy race has been a little murky throughout the season. Shroud and Young cleared it up on Saturday afternoon.
3. It wasn’t just the aerial attack
Young will get all of the accolades after this one, and rightfully so. But the passing game had already been established in Tuscaloosa. The running game, on the other hand, has had plenty of struggles. The last time Alabama played an SEC opponent, it managed just six yards on the ground against LSU two weeks ago.
Robinson shined with his 122 yards on Saturday. He was the only Crimson Tide player to gain more than three yards on the ground on Saturday. That might not seem like much, but it was just enough for Young to settle into a groove over the final three quarters. Robinson forced the Arkansas safeties to pay just enough attention to him, which allowed Young to find Williams deep, Metchie over the middle and keep the chains moving.
4. Treylon Burks is a monster
The star wide receiver for the Razorbacks not only was the difference-maker for the offense, but he did it despite a left arm injury that forced him into the locker room late in the first quarter. He emerged just as the second quarter started and went off.
Six of his eight catches came over the final three quarters, including both of his touchdowns. If you hadn’t paid close attention to Burks before, get ready. Not only is he one of the best receivers in the country, but he is going to fly up draft boards over the next few months.
The gauge shows the tide reached 8 feet, the minimal level for major flooding, for a few minutes around 9 a.m.
Saturday morning’s tide is forecast to be even higher.
Joey Sovine of affiliate WCSC tweeted, “This is the highest tide since December 16, 2020. We’re starting to see street closures increase in Downtown Charleston.”
Street flooding almost a foot deep was reported near the Port of Charleston by the National Weather Service. Low-lying roads prone to flooding have been closed in Charleston and nearby towns.
Farther south, a tide gauge at Fort Pulaski — near Savannah, Georgia — reached 10 feet, just shy of major flood stage Friday morning.
Although it is receding now, the tide is forecast to reach above major flood stage (10.5 ft) Saturday morning.
“Only about 3% of all flooding tides reach this level in Charleston, and even less frequently that high at Fort Pulaski,” the National Weather Service in Charleston says.
Low-lying roads have been closed around the area near the Fort Pulaski gauge.
“We’re particularly worried about the only road in and out — that goes from Savannah to Tybee Island. The road was raised up a few years ago, but at 10.5 feet, we’re expecting issues there,” Ron Morales, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Charleston, told CNN Weather on Wednesday.
Coastal flood warnings and advisories stretched along the coast as the presence of higher-than-normal tides, called “king tides,” is made worse by the climate crisis and a developing storm system to the south.
Last week, the sport’s leadership met to discuss the merits of expanding the College Football Playoff. It amounted to nothing. On Saturday, Alabama and Georgia offered a convincing counterargument. Perhaps we should just end the 2021 season after the SEC championship game.
For all the September buzz about chaos and parity in 2021, college football emerged from Week 5 with a clear line of demarcation. There is Alabama. There is Georgia. Everyone else amounts to little more than fries and a Coke, complementary pieces to complete your combo meal.
There was more chaos further down the pecking order. Five top-12 teams lost — Oregon, Arkansas, Florida, Notre Dame and Ole Miss — while upstarts like Michigan State, Michigan and Oklahoma State kept plugging along. Ohio State got its confidence builder against Rutgers. Clemson escaped another embarrassment, but the Tigers’ offensive woes remain. But it was all window dressing to the two heavyweights at the top.
In Tuscaloosa, Lane Kiffin previewed the competition by telling fans to get their popcorn ready. Not since “Tenet” has such a request been followed by such a baffling performance. A year after Ole Miss hung 48 on Alabama, Kiffin’s offense flubbed fourth-down tries on three of its first four drives, all but handing the game to Alabama, as Bryce Young and the Tide took advantage of the good field position to build a 35-0 lead, ultimately winning 42-21.
“Get your popcorn ready.” – Lane Kiffin 🍿 pic.twitter.com/ZDdr60cjuj
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) October 2, 2021
In Athens, Stetson Bennett IV slipped out of his smoking jacket and monocle (which we assume is standard attire for anyone named Stetson Bennett IV) and stepped into the starting lineup for the Bulldogs. The injury to JT Daniels might have been a serious blow in a top-10 matchup against Arkansas, but on Saturday, the Dawgs hardly needed a quarterback at all. Georgia ran the ball 56 times, devouring Arkansas’ 3-2-6 defense, while its own front held the Hogs to a woeful 162 yards of offense.
Afterward, Kirby Smart summed up college football’s power structure perfectly.
“Either you’re elite or you’re not,” Smart said, obviously unaware of Joe Flacco’s existence. “There’s no gray area.”
Alabama left no gray area. For the past five years, Nick Saban’s Tide teams have been defined, at least in part, by Kiffin’s influence — up-tempo offenses, tons of points and an aerial assault. But on Saturday, Saban swaggered out of the wine cellar at Bryant-Denny with a vintage varietal, an old-school performance of power run game and dominant defense. Saban ran his record against former assistants to 24-0, but this was more than just proving he was still the master. He had to show the world he didn’t need a single drop of ink that Kiffin had added to the playbook to do it. He delivered a knockout blow with one hand tied behind his back, just to say he could do it.
Georgia, too, went old school. Leaning on the run game came by necessity, but it was nevertheless impressive. The same Arkansas defense that shut down Texas star Bijan Robinson last month gave up three rushing TDs to the Bulldogs, while four different Georgia backs tallied at least 10 carries and 48 yards. Meanwhile, the defense is verging on historic. UGA has now faced two teams ranked in the top 10 and allowed a grand total of three points. In three SEC games, the Georgia defense has surrendered just one touchdown — a garbage-time score by South Carolina. It’s the only time any opposing offense has found the end zone against Georgia in five games. Georgia’s last national championship came after QB Buck Belue completed just a single pass. It’s possible that game plan could work for these Bulldogs, too.
There will be two other teams in the College Football Playoff, of course. Perhaps Cincinnati will be one of them. The Bearcats got a long-awaited signature win, beating No. 9 Notre Dame in South Bend for a win that might finally convince the committee that the Group of Five can produce a great team. Perhaps Penn State will run the table, or Ohio State will rebound to win the Big Ten, or Oklahoma, despite yet another narrow win over an unranked opponent, will find its form.
It’s true, too, that championships aren’t handed out in October. (Or, for that matter, September. Sorry, Pac-12.) There’s still time for things to change, for the power dynamic to be tipped once more, for another genuine challenger to emerge. It was, after all, just two weeks ago that we wondered aloud if Alabama had been exposed by Florida — foolish as that seems now.
But the scariest thing about Saturday for the rest of the college football world was that it hardly seemed like the ceiling for Alabama and Georgia. They played dominant football, while seemingly having more in the tank.
Indeed, you’re either elite or you’re not. And right now, that’s a particularly exclusive club with membership offers to just two teams. Heck, Stetson Bennett’s already got the smoking jacket.
If Alabama and Georgia are clearly the best teams in the country, there’s still some real debate about who’s next in the pecking order. After Week 5, there are 15 remaining undefeated teams. We sorted them into tiers behind the Dawgs and Tide.
Tier 2: Like a “Fast and Furious” movie, just try to enjoy them without overthinking it
Cincinnati, Oklahoma and Penn State
Want to nitpick? There’s ample room.
Certainly, the committee will look for any flaws it can find for Cincinnati, but with Saturday’s 24-13 win at Notre Dame, the Bearcats finally have enough to push back.
At Oklahoma, the fans are booing the starting QB, which is typically not ideal for a playoff contender. Spencer Rattler played relatively well Saturday (completing 22 of 25 throws), but it was another close call for the Sooners. Style points aren’t part of the playoff formula, but it’s also worth mentioning that no team has ever made the College Football Playoff with more than four one-possession games against unranked foes. All four of Oklahoma’s FBS wins this season have come by a TD or less.
Then there’s Penn State, which has three wins — at Wisconsin, vs. Auburn and Saturday vs. Indiana — that looked a lot better on paper in August than they look in the standings now.
Tier 3: “You’ll get nothing and like it”
Michigan, Iowa and Kentucky
The Wolverines picked up another win Saturday, 38-17, over Wisconsin. Was that impressive? Well, the Badgers’ offense is basically the same as watching paint dry. In fact, that about sums up the entirety of Michigan’s opposition this year, which also includes NIU, Rutgers and Washington, all woefully incompetent with the football. But Michigan did throw three TD passes Saturday — two more than it had managed in the past three games combined — so perhaps there’s some real upside. At the very least, every time Michigan scores, Jim Harbaugh celebrates like he’s in one of those “Don’t be like your parents” commercials, and it’s just delightful.
The Hawkeyes’ defense has 16 takeaways in five games. The Hawkeyes’ offense often includes 11 players. Is that a formula for a Big Ten title? We’ll find out a lot more against Penn State next week.
Kentucky was out-gained by 158 yards Saturday. The Wildcats managed just 13 first downs. They completed seven passes. But hey, they won, thanks to 15 Florida penalties and a blocked field goal that was returned for a TD. QB Will Levis has made headlines throughout this run by noting that he eats bananas with the peel on and puts mayo in his coffee, and if Kentucky’s run goes on much longer, he’s liable to do something truly disgusting like eating Skyline chili.
You’re right to want more from these teams. On offense, they range between bad and dumpster fire. And yet, here we are. No one’s going to enjoy the ride, but we’re on board anyway.
Tier 4: The Bracket Busters
Coastal Carolina and BYU
Can these two teams just play a random game they scheduled three days earlier again this year? Please, college football. Make this an annual thing.
Tier 5: The “Ted Lasso” teams that everyone keeps telling you are actually pretty good but you just haven’t found the time to actually watch
Michigan State, Wake Forest and Oklahoma State
Is there a real contender in this bunch? Wake escaped with a dramatic 37-34 win over Louisville on Saturday, and its schedule sets up nicely for a strong run into November. With Clemson reeling offensively, anything seems possible in the ACC. Meanwhile, Michigan State appears destined for a battle of undefeated teams against Michigan on Oct. 30. Oklahoma State could have easily lost its first three, but Mike Gundy only listens to the news he likes, so the Cowboys might just be the best team in the country.
Tier 6a: Admit it. You forgot about UTSA, right?
UTSA
Meep, meep. The Roadrunners are 5-0 and about to drop an anvil on Western Kentucky’s head next week.
Tier 6b: There’s no way you remembered that Wyoming was undefeated
Wyoming
The Cowboys beat Montana State by three and UConn by two. If there’s such a thing as moral victories, those were both moral losses.
So long, Pac-12
Oregon was up seven with 2:21 to play and had a first down deep in Stanford territory. What could go wrong? Well, it’s the Pac-12, so it’s best never to ask that question. The Ducks ended up punting from the Stanford 43, allowed the Cardinal to drive the length of the field, got flagged for defensive holding as time expired, then served up the game-tying TD before losing in overtime. If college football fans in the Pac-12 were still capable of feeling, it would’ve been a gut punch. Instead, it marks the second time in three years the Pac-12 is without an undefeated team after five weeks — something the other Power 5 leagues have done just once in the playoff era, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
play
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Stanford scores a game-tying touchdown on the final play of regulation and then wins it in overtime to upset No. 3 Oregon.
Clemson wins ugly
Clemson’s offensive problems didn’t find many solutions on Saturday, but the Tigers still managed to come away with a win, 19-13 against Boston College.
“It wasn’t beautiful,” Dabo Swinney said afterward, “but we needed a win.”
Clemson moved to 3-2, but the Tigers have yet to crack 20 points against an FBS opponent. On Saturday, they managed 438 yards of offense, which did mark a significant step forward after failing to crack 300 in any of their prior three FBS games. They finished just 3 of 15 on third and fourth down. QB D.J. Uiagalelei didn’t throw a TD. They endured myriad injuries, too, including starters Will Putnam, Braden Galloway and Justyn Ross. Swinney said afterward that Ross suffered a head injury, but isn’t likely out long-term.
Afterward, Swinney called the game “momentum going into an off week,” which might be a nice way of saying the Tigers survived long enough to get an extra week off before running into another brick wall.
How bad have things been?
Since Swinney became the full-time coach in 2009, Clemson has never scored fewer than 96 points in regulation through its first four FBS games. This year, the Tigers have managed 50.
Auburn rallies behind Nix
Matt Damon in “Rounders”: “Some people, pros even, won’t play No-Limit. They can’t handle the swings.”
Auburn fans during the Bo Nix era: “Hold our beer.”
A week ago, Nix was benched as the Tigers narrowly escaped Georgia State. This week, Nix racked up 329 yards of offense, threw a TD, ran for another and engineered a fourth-quarter comeback to beat LSU in Death Valley.
The Bo Nix Experience has taken years off the lives of Auburn fans, but Saturday’s performance was a reminder of just how good the junior QB can be when things go right. Replaced by T.J. Finley for a series early in the game, Nix returned in the second quarter to lead Auburn’s first TD drive and never sat again. Trailing 19-17 with 6:57 to play, Nix led an 11-play drive that included an 11-yard run, a 10-yard completion and a critical conversion on third-and-three at the LSU 15.
Next up is Georgia, and given his history, Nix will either pull off a miracle or accidentally set the locker room on fire while trying to make a panini.
Heisman Five
As much as Alabama-Ole Miss figured to be a showdown between Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin and a battle for the SEC West, it was also a matchup of the top two contenders for this year’s Heisman. When it was over, there was only one contender remaining. This is now Bryce Young’s award to lose.
1. Alabama QB Bryce Young
Young didn’t pad his stats any, but a few short fields and 33 handoffs to Brian Robinson made for a box score — 241 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT — that was more than enough to win and pull away from the rest of the competition in the early Heisman race. While Young’s overall stats certainly compare nicely with his predecessors — Mac Jones, Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts — what’s perhaps more impressive is how cool and confident he looks even in the most pressure-packed situations.
play
0:20
Alabama takes the lead over Ole Miss as Bryce Young throws a heater to John Metchie III in the end zone.
2. Ole Miss QB Matt Corral
Corral didn’t make any critical mistakes, and if, perhaps, Ole Miss had converted a couple of those fourth-down tries, things might have turned out differently, but the result was still emphatic. Alabama’s defense was terrific, and Corral managed just a garbage time TD pass on the biggest stage he’ll see this season.
3. Texas RB Bijan Robinson
If some of the initial buzz died down after the loss to Arkansas, Robinson reignited the Heisman hype with 216 yards and two scores in a 32-27 win over TCU. It’s Robinson’s fourth 100-yard effort in five games, and he’s quickly established himself as a true bell cow in the Texas backfield. He’ll be the centerpiece for Texas in the Red River game against Oklahoma next week, meaning Robinson will have a chance to make a real push toward upping his Heisman odds.
4. Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder
It wasn’t the sexiest line in a box score Saturday, but Ridder made a number of big throws when Cincinnati needed them most against Notre Dame, including a 36-yard completion to Leonard Taylor that set up a Ridder TD run that all but sealed the Bearcats’ first-ever win over a top-10 team. Overall, Ridder threw for 297 yards and two TDs, ran for 26 more with a TD and put the Bearcats squarely in the middle of the Playoff conversation.
5. Pitt QB Kenny Pickett
Each week, we use the No. 5 spot to highlight a guy who isn’t likely to get national consideration but deserves a bit of the spotlight. Pickett might bridge that gap if he keeps up his recent pace. He threw four touchdowns in a rout of Georgia Tech, adding 410 yards of offense. The Pitt QB, now in (we’re pretty sure) his 12th season, has tossed 15 TD passes in his past three games — two more than he’d ever thrown in a full season, breaking Dan Marino’s school record for TD passes in a three-game stretch.
Under-the-radar game of the week
In 1964, Justice Potter Stewart delivered the lasting definition of obscenity: “I know it when I see it.” This was in the case of Jacobellis v. Ohio, but it might’ve been more appropriate for UConn vs. Vanderbilt. The Huskies last beat an FBS team in 2019. Vandy last scored during the Taft administration. Forcing others to watch this game was barred by the Geneva Convention.
And yet, this game had real drama. Vandy was up 27-16 midway through the fourth quarter, coughed up successive scoring drives to the Huskies, then drove 47 yards in 1:07 to set up a game-winning field-goal attempt. Of course, UConn head coach Lou Spanos then used three straight timeouts to ice the kicker because no one wanted to see this game end, and also because former coach Randy Edsall gets $1 for every unused timeout (It’s in his contract.). But, in the end, Vandy kicker Joseph Bulovas booted the 31-yarder for the win. And if you enjoyed all of that, well, we’ve got good news for you. Next week, UConn gets UMass. Some people just want to watch the world burn.
Under-the-radar play of the week
Check out this Purdue cheerleader doing her impression of the Boilermakers’ performance vs. Minnesota.
This is INCREDIBLE 😂 pic.twitter.com/SQd41ZPBvN
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 2, 2021
Every coast in the U.S. is facing rapidly increasing high tide floods. NASA says this is due to a “wobble” in the moon’s orbit working in tandem with climate change-fueled rising sea levels.
The new study from NASA and the University of Hawaii, published recently in the journal Nature Climate Change, warns that upcoming changes in the moon’s orbit could lead to record flooding on Earth in the next decade.
Through mapping the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) sea-level rise scenarios, flooding thresholds and astronomical cycles, researchers found flooding in American coastal cities could be several multiples worse in the 2030s, when the next moon “wobble” is expected to begin. They expect the flooding to significantly damage infrastructure and displace communities.
While the study highlights the dire situation facing coastal cities, the lunar wobble is actually a natural occurrence, first reported in 1728. The moon’s orbit is responsible for periods of both higher and lower tides about every 18.6 years, and they aren’t dangerous in their own right.
“In half of the Moon’s 18.6-year cycle, Earth’s regular daily tides are suppressed: High tides are lower than normal, and low tides are higher than normal,” NASA explains. “In the other half of the cycle, tides are amplified: High tides get higher, and low tides get lower. Global sea-level rise pushes high tides in only one direction – higher. So half of the 18.6-year lunar cycle counteracts the effect of sea-level rise on high tides, and the other half increases the effect.”
But this time around, scientists are more concerned. With sea-level rise due to climate change, the next high tide floods are expected to be more intense and more frequent than ever before, exacerbating already grim predictions.
NOAA reported more than 600 such floods in 2019. Scientists are expecting three to four times that amount in the mid-2030s, after sea-level rise has another decade to progress.
Climate refugees and havens from extreme weat…
06:57
According to the study, these floods will exceed flooding thresholds around the country more often, and can also occur in clusters lasting more than a month, depending on the positions of the moon, Earth and sun. During certain alignments, floods could happen as frequently as every day or every other day.
“Low-lying areas near sea level are increasingly at risk and suffering due to the increased flooding, and it will only get worse,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The combination of the Moon’s gravitational pull, rising sea levels, and climate change will continue to exacerbate coastal flooding on our coastlines and across the world.”
Almost all U.S. mainland coastlines, Hawaii and Guam are expected to face these effects. Sea-level rise is already expected to make hundreds of thousands of square miles of coastline uninhabitable and potentially displace over 100 million people worldwide by the end of the century.
Researchers are hoping their findings will lead to more dedicated efforts to prevent as much damage as possible, both to the environment and people’s livelihoods, before it’s too late. While high tide floods don’t involve as large an amount of water as hurricanes, the real danger lies in their frequency.
“It’s the accumulated effect over time that will have an impact,” said lead author Phil Thompson. “If it floods 10 or 15 times a month, a business can’t keep operating with its parking lot under water. People lose their jobs because they can’t get to work. Seeping cesspools become a public health issue.”
High-tide flooding in Honolulu, Hawaii.Image: Hawaii Sea Grant King Tides Project
Recurrent high-tide floods are expected to worsen as sea levels continue to rise on account of climate change, but, as a new study warns, a regularly occurring 18.6-year cycle involving the Moon could trigger unprecedented flooding along U.S. coasts in the 2030s.
Nuisance flooding, sunny day flooding, or high-tide flooding—it’s all the same thing, and an annoying pain in the ass. In 2019, NOAA tracked more than 600 of these recurring high-tide flooding events, in which high tides extend 2 feet (0.6 meters) above the norm. These floods aren’t life threatening, but they can damage coastal infrastructure in affected areas and create annoyances like flooded parking lots. Needless to say, nuisance flooding is happening more frequently on account of human-induced climate change, and it’s poised to get even worse as sea levels continue to rise.
If that’s not bad enough, an 18.6-year lunar cycle is expected to amplify this effect even further, according to new research published in Nature Climate Change. The authors of the paper, led by Phil Thompson from the University of Hawaii, say the confluence of rising sea levels and a periodic wobble in the Moon’s orbit will increase the frequency and severity of high-tide floods along U.S. ocean coastlines. By the mid-2030s, tidal floods could occur in batches that last for a month or more and on a nearly daily basis, the scientists say. Members of NASA’s Sea Level Change Science Team from the University of Hawaii contributed to this research.
Scientists have known about this wobble in the Moon’s orbit since the early 18th century, as well as how alignments involving the Moon, Earth, and Sun can influence the tides. During the first half of this cycle, high tides are below the normal average and low tides are higher than normal. During the other half of the cycle, both the high and low tides are amplified, appearing both higher and lower than usual. The reason for this has to do with the Moon’s gravitational pull, which causes Earth’s ocean tides. We’re currently in the amplification phase of this cycle, but the Moon’s gravity is not affecting tides to the degree expected in the mid-2030s when the amplification phase renews.
This is all well known, but scientists are now having to predict the effect of this lunar cycle in the era of climate change and rising sea levels. Indeed, the situation looks bad, Moon wobble or no. Figures provided by NOAA paint a grim picture, with estimates suggesting global sea levels will rise by at least 12 inches (0.3 meters) by the turn of the century. Unfortunately, the world is currently on track for the worst-case sea level rise scenario that scientists have modeled and researchers have uncovered increasing worrisome signs about Antarctica’s ice. As of 2014, nearly 40% of the U.S. population inhabits coastal areas that could be vulnerable to rising sea levels.
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“Low-lying areas near sea level are increasingly at risk and suffering due to the increased flooding, and it will only get worse,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a statement. “The combination of the Moon’s gravitational pull, rising sea levels, and climate change will continue to exacerbate coastal flooding on our coastlines and across the world.”
To build the new predictive model, Thompson and his colleagues studied tidal information gathered by 90 gauges distributed along U.S. coasts, statistics on high-tide flooding and meteorological events like El Niño events, astronomical cycles, among other data points. Recurrent high-tide floods are expected to happen more often along nearly all U.S. mainland coastlines, Hawaii, and Guam. Alaska won’t experience these problems for at least another decade or longer, because its land masses are actually rising on account of geological processes.
Thompson said that high-tide floods are not as bad as hurricane storm surges, but he warned of the cumulative effects and also the emergence of “seeping cesspools” as a public health issue. Urban planners should take notice of the new findings and act accordingly, the scientists conclude in the study.
More: Sea level rise alone threatens to crush the global economy.
Being mostly rural and far from the coasts didn’t protect North Dakota and South Dakota from Covid-19.
After a spring and a summer of flimsy or nonexistent public health measures, politicization of the pandemic and rampant misinformation, the states were tinderboxes.
Then came the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August. The gathering of nearly half a million people in a small town in western South Dakota sent case numbers and deaths soaring in both states.
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By November, North Dakota had the highest coronavirus infection rate per capita in the world. In South Dakota, the death rate reached a global high.
Unlike states that had soaring case counts early in the pandemic, neither North Dakota nor South Dakota ever issued stay-at-home orders. Mask mandates, if they came, came late. Yet numbers in both states have come down significantly since the late fall peak, and the Dakotas have emerged as national leaders in vaccine distribution — both are closing in on 5 percent of their total populations’ being fully vaccinated, putting them in the top five in the country.
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But beneath the surface, experts fear that the success could be tenuous: Misinformation, a false sense of security and the politicization of infection prevention measures are setting the stage for a possible second surge.
The pandemic got personal
By Halloween, Covid-19 had been ripping through South Dakota for two months. But when Nick Brown, 29, drove through downtown Brookings — the state’s fourth-largest city, near the Minnesota border — he passed a string of bars that hosted maskless crowds. At one bar, a local rock band played for a packed house.
Brown, who was a doctoral student in mathematics at South Dakota State University at the time, said he was diligent about wearing masks and avoiding crowds, but he noted that the topic had become political and that not everyone followed public health recommendations.
People cheer as a band performs during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, S.D., on Aug. 7.Michael Ciaglo / Getty Images file
The situation was nearly identical in the state’s northern neighbor.
Dr. Paul Carson, director of the North Dakota State University Center for Immunization Research and Education, said that as he and his wife traveled across the state in the summer, masks were sparse and physical distancing was almost nonexistent, particularly the farther west they went. Adherence to public health measures was slightly better in eastern hubs, including Fargo, which had implemented mask guidance in the absence of a statewide order.
Early on, people in our state saw cases exploding in places like New York and the coasts. It seemed like it was a problem for large, urban metropolitan centers, not us.
“Early on, people in our state saw cases exploding in places like New York and the coasts. It seemed like it was a problem for large, urban metropolitan centers, not us,” he said.
That had changed by mid-November, when “it became unavoidable to not know someone who was in the hospital or who had died of Covid-19,” he said. “People felt it personally. It became clear that our hospitals were overrun.”
That undeniable evidence, Carson said, helped motivate people to make the changes that eventually turned the tide. “It became hard to say that the epidemic is being overblown, that it’s no worse than the flu, and this influenced people to change their behavior.” Mask-wearing and social distancing, he said, increased.
Finally, on Nov. 13, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum issued a statewide mask mandate and restricted capacity in bars and restaurants.
Protesters outside the North Dakota State Capitol in Bismarck criticize the state’s shutdown on April 20.Russell Hons / CSM via AP
Such an order never came in South Dakota, one of the few states to issue no restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
South Dakota Health Secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdon didn’t address the spike in cases in a statement to NBC News, but she said that “we’ve empowered [South Dakotans] to make the best decision for themselves, their family and their businesses, by providing them with timely and accurate health information as it becomes available,” and she highlighted the vaccination rollout in the state. The North Dakota Health Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Dr. Shankar Kurra, vice president of medical affairs at Monument Health Rapid City Hospital in South Dakota, said the personal impact of Covid-19 was the main force behind the rise in masking in the state.
“Folks started paying attention, though late, which did contribute to the decline,” he said, referring to the fall in cases.
The statewide mandates, Carson said, made a noticeable difference in how North Dakota’s case numbers fell compared to South Dakota’s.
“Cases fell more slowly in South Dakota than in North Dakota,” he said. What’s more, “although recorded cases of positive Covid-19 tests were roughly the same in both states, North Dakota was issuing about four times as many tests as South Dakota at the time and had a positivity rate that was about four times lower.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, North Dakota has tested 7 percent more of its population than South Dakota. Nineteen percent of tests are still positive in South Dakota, according to Johns Hopkins University, compared to less than 4 percent in North Dakota.
Brown said that in Brookings, people did eventually start wearing masks — and they continue to in some cases — but other risky behaviors didn’t stop. “The bar scene didn’t seem to slow down much from what I could tell on social media,” he said, adding that restaurants appeared to fill more takeout orders during the surge but that indoor dining continued.
A spike in natural immunity
Experts say another reason case numbers rose and fell sharply was that many people were infected around the same time.
Clusters of infections sprung up in groups that frequented the same places and perhaps took greater risks — for example, friends who went to bars together, Carson said. Infection rates fell as those groups recovered and were likely to have become immune and unable to spread the virus for several months.
Indeed, Carson and Kurra credit the hyperlocalized clusters of herd immunity as a key factor that helped curb the surge of cases in the Dakotas.
At least 1 in 9 South Dakotans and 1 in 7 North Dakotans have tested positive — twice as many cases per capita as in New York. Carson said the real number is likely to be double that.
The jury’s still out on how long natural immunity lasts; some studies have shown that it can fade after three months.
A patient is moved in the emergency department at Jamestown Regional Medical Center in Jamestown, N.D., on Nov. 22. In the course of a day, the ER staff had seen 29 patients, including five with Covid-19.Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images file
“We’re all coming to the end of that 90-day cycle now, so we are worried there will be a second spike,” said Tessa Johnson, president of the North Dakota Nurses Association, who works in a long-term care facility.
Regardless of how long natural antibodies remain effective against infection, both states haven’t had enough cases to reach statewide herd immunity. Johnson worried that case numbers will spike again because so many people had the virus at the same time.
If people stop taking precautions to stop the spread of the virus, risky behaviors will ultimately expose those who haven’t yet contracted the virus or been vaccinated.
“It’s still too soon to let go of the gas at this point. Even with the vaccine, we still need to live in the virtual world before we can safely go back to normalcy,” Johnson said.
Delegating responsibility
Meanwhile, in the absence of significant state government intervention, the handful of hospital systems that dominate health care in the Dakotas took charge. Their approach had certain benefits.
The three main health systems that operate in South Dakota — Monument Health, Avera Health and Sanford Health — were responsible for working with community organizations to promote prevention and address misinformation, as well as devising plans to administer tests and vaccinations.
“The state gave the awesome responsibility to Monument Health to be in charge of the western half of the state,” Kurra said. “That was a huge burden, but this centralized approach has made it so we can be speedy, agile and can easily coordinate with the other health systems.”
Monument Health has coordinated with local health clinics in the most rural parts of the state to get doses to them as quickly as possible.
“That kind of logistical success doesn’t come easy. It takes a lot of planning, but it’s easier when you have just one source,” he said.
Dr. Jeremy Cauwels, chief physician for Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, said the hospital system — which operates in both states — recognized and addressed vaccination challenges early on. That played a crucial role in successful vaccine distribution efforts in both states.
“Any time you have a vaccine that you have to treat differently, such as the cold storage, there are going to be extra challenges,” he said, referring to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which requires ultracold freezers. “But we saw those obstacles months beforehand and had nine freezers in distribution sites before the vaccinations hit.”
In North Dakota, Carson credits Molly Howell, the immunization program manager at the state Health Department, who started creating a vaccination plan back in August. Both states also coordinated with pharmacies early on, delegating to them the task of administering vaccinations in long-term care facilities.
A drive-thru testing site in the Event Center in Bismarck, N.D., on Oct. 26.Bing Guan / Reuters
“In small, rural states, everybody knows each other, and I think having that personal connection allows for a more expedited and less bureaucratic process,” said Carson, who participates in a weekly call among experts who are heavily involved in the state’s response.
In addition to hospital systems, the Indian Health Service has been coordinating vaccination efforts for the states’ large Native American populations, which have been hit disproportionately hard.
The agency has been careful to work closely with tribal communities to design distribution plans based on each local community, because tribal leaders and members are in the best position to understand their health care needs and priorities, an Indian Health Service representative said in a statement.
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The vaccination rate on reservations in the Great Plains Area (which also includes reservations in Nebraska and Iowa) is about 14,000 doses per 100,000 people — comparable to the rates elsewhere in the Dakotas.
The misinformation threat
Despite the high vaccination rates in both states, Johnson said uptake in North Dakota was “disappointing.”
Although every resident at the long-term care facility where she works has been vaccinated, she estimates that the vaccination rate among staff members is only 25 percent.
Carson worries that it is a trend across the state — one that he attributed to misinformation about the vaccines.
Kurra estimated that in South Dakota, vaccination uptake is at 60 percent; Cauwels estimated the rate to be slightly higher among health care workers. Experts don’t yet know how many people will need to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity, but if enough people decline vaccinations, the virus will have an opportunity to spread and mutate, which could make vaccines less effective against new variants that emerge.
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The North Dakota Health Department has taken to social media to address specific misinformation about the vaccines. In South Dakota, the task has largely been left to doctors like Kurra. Since the start of the pandemic, Kurra has hosted weekly Facebook Live events and conference calls, and he has regularly appeared on local news stations to address people’s questions about Covid-19. His focus is now on the vaccines.
“People hold on to misinformation, but health systems have the unique advantage of being a trusted source, and we have to leverage that,” Kurra said.
Right now, vaccination is the best way to prevent further outbreaks.
Carson said, “We’re watching the coasts contend with second spikes, and we can avoid another surge here by getting as many vaccinations out as we can.”
