Heaven help the team that makes Nick Saban so angry he plays Tua Tagovailoa for four quarters.

On that and much more that happened during a wild Week 4 in and around the SEC.

10. Why does Alabama ever run the ball?

Alabama was well on its way to a fourth consecutive 50-point game until Nick Saban pulled the plug.

It wasn’t so much that he pulled Tua Tagovailoa after his career-day: 387 yards, 4 TD passes. You knew that was coming.

It was that Jalen Hurts threw just 3 passes in the final 16 minutes of the game. Alabama finished with 415 passing yards and 109 rushing yards.

Throw da ball!

Steve Spurrier would have hung 80 on the Aggies on Saturday.

And probably posed in front of the scoreboard afterward, too.

9. Alternate uni-verse

I love alternate uniforms. Even when a team whiffs — Florida’s gator-themed duds last season, for instance, emphasis on duds — I admire the initiative.

Mizzou set the gold standard Saturday for how to do it right.

Alas, that’s about the only thing Mizzou got right Saturday.

8. I don’t even know where to begin …

Last week it was Arkansas’ special teams falling asleep on punt coverage and allowing a touchdown because they incorrectly thought it was a fair catch. Saturday, Wake Forest kicker Nick Sciba wasn’t paying enough attention to know it was fourth down. He hurried onto the field and clanked one off the goal post.

I’m fairly certain Wake Forest’s coaches have relayed to Sciba that they need him on the field in those situations. That’s on him, not them.

Quit daydreaming about Fortnite and focus on the task at hand.

7. Bad refs are bad

I could make this a weekly installment. I usually resist because it’s a difficult job, there are so many questionable calls every week and I’d rather focus on other things.

But what happened to Mizzou on this play was a double dose of bad.

First, officials failed to blow the whistle dead when two Georgia defenders clearly not only stopped Albert Okwuegbunam’s progress after a catch, but started to drive him back. Georgia’s Tyson Campbell eventually stripped the ball, recovered and raced 64 yards for an opening score.

It was an obvious missed call, but that was just half of the problem.

The other half … another official actually acted as a lead blocker and wiped out any chance Drew Lock had of making a touchdown-saving tackle.

Unfortunately, review wasn’t able to bail them out because forward progress is not reviewable unless it’s determining a first down or touchdown.

Requisite reminder: No, that first-quarter call wasn’t the reason Georgia won. Mizzou committed two more turnovers in the first half (not including a blocked punt that Georgia scooped and scored on), missed a field goal and dropped at least 4 passes, etc., etc. In other words, the Tigers were as off their game as the officials were on that play.

(P.S. This third-down love tap on Lock’s chest that drew a roughing the quarterback call against Georgia was equally horrific. This call gave Mizzou a first down, and the Tigers scored on the next play.)

And you wonder how conspiracy theories get started …

6. Drew Lock is better than his teammates

The narrative coming in was Lock is a bully who beats up on lightweights and gets shoved into a corner against contenders.

If you only looked at the box score, Saturday’s numbers aren’t going to dispel that notion. Lock finished 23-for-48 for 221 yards. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass, ending a 13-game streak.

In truth, his receivers didn’t hold up their end of the deal. Their drops neared double digits. It didn’t help that Emanuel Hall was dinged up and a non-factor. Nearly every ball Lock threw was a strike, not only catchable, but thrown to a spot that a) only his guy could catch (or drop) or b) allowed his guy to run after the catch.

This is what an NFL arm looks like and this was typical ball placement Saturday:

5. You still think this is a good rule?

https://twitter.com/cjzer0/status/1043654455797927936

Gutsy play call. Perfect execution. Extra effort. All wiped out. Fortunately, nothing more was at stake than a possible seat in the cellar of the SEC East.

Not everybody minded, of course.

https://twitter.com/ScooterMagruder/status/1043653542425370624

4. The 4 Playoff teams are …

No. 1 Alabama. No. 2 Georgia. No. 3 Clemson. No. 4 LSU. No. 5 Oklahoma. No. 6 Ohio State. No. 7. UCF (Are you seriously going to question this after watching what the Group of 5s did to the Power 5s Saturday?)

Oklahoma survived mighty Army’s upset bid, somehow, despite losing the time of possession battle 44:41 to 15:19. Army ran the football 78 times! Remember Saban’s rant when Georgia Southern ran through his defense like … well, you know what? That’s what Army did to Oklahoma. Army gashed the Sooners for 339 yards rushing.

At least the Sooners didn’t lose. I guess.

Quit screaming that I’m sleeping on Ohio State. The Buckeyes needed every break imaginable to beat an overrated TCU team that just lost to Texas.

Clemson is good and Trevor Lawrence is better than that. The front is nasty. That schedule gets worse every week. (More below.)

3. Is it basketball season?

That’s obviously not a Kentucky joke, not after the Wildcats manhandled Mississippi State. Benny Snell is a bad man. That’s not an overreaction. That’s a reaffirmation of fact.

The countdown to Midnight Madness is a corner 3 aimed at the ACC, or what used to be the ACC.

Two ranked ACC football teams lost to 0-3 unranked nonconference teams Saturday. The most shocking, obviously, was No. 13 Virginia Tech somehow losing to Old Dominion.

Purdue, which lost last week to Missouri, spanked No. 23 Boston College.

There is nothing in Clemson’s way and no way to make whatever happens the rest of the year look impressive. Duke might be the only ranked team the Tigers face at kickoff.

So, no, I’m not really in the mood to hear anything anybody has to say about Alabama or Georgia’s schedule, OK?

The ACC and SEC are the only leagues to make the Playoff every year. The ACC better hope Clemson goes undefeated. One loss will keep the ACC at home.

2. How bad is this going to get, Tennessee?

I thought Butch Jones’ final season was Rocky (Top) bottom.

And then came Saturday.

I knew Jeremy Pruitt was walking into a disaster. I didn’t think the Vols would make a bowl game. I picked them to finish 6th in the East, but I’m already beginning to regret that level of optimism.

Jeremy Pruitt kicked the white board. He needs to kick a lot more than that.

1. Dear Nick, I’m here for you …

I had to circle back to this. After Alabama’s blowout, Saban asked the media to find something wrong with his football team.

Now that they’re actually making field goals, it’s an extremely tough ask, but after 4 weeks, this is where we’re at. It’s painful, but:

Nick, every time you run the football, you’re doing the defense a favor. While I bob and weave, I’ll offer these reminders:

Alabama entered Week 4 averaging 11.1 yards per attempt through the air, 5.5 yards on the ground. It had 12 touchdowns through the air, compared to 7 on the ground.

Saturday, the gap somehow grew. They averaged 12.6 yards per attempt vs. Texas A&M. They threw for a season-high 415 yards. They topped 400 yards passing for just the third time in the Saban era. Four of their six TDs came via the air.

My advice?

Fly pig, fly.