Alabama and Ole Miss each opened the 2021 season by playing in a Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. And both the Crimson Tide and the Rebels left Atlanta with dominant wins.

Both schools also had impressive showings by its quarterbacks.

Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ole Miss’ Matt Corral started the new season in big ways, which earned both of them a spot on the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award’s “Great 8” list for Week 1. By getting named, Young and Corral are both now on the midseason watch list and will be eligible to win the award at the end of the season.

After limited playing time as a freshman in 2020, Young made his first start for Alabama on Saturday and passed for 344 yards and 4 touchdowns in 44-13 win over Miami.

Corral, who is a redshirt junior, was coming off a breakout 2020 season for Ole Miss. He led the Rebels to a 43-24 win over Louisville on Monday night, passing for 381 yards and 1 touchdown and rushing for 55 yards and a score.

Here were the 8 QBs named to the list for Week 1:

Jack Coan, Notre Dame
Matt Corral, Ole Miss
Frank Harris, UTSA
Tanner Mordecai, SMU
Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati
Chris Reynolds, Charlotte
CJ Stroud, Ohio State
Bryce Young, Alabama

One noticeable omission was Kentucky’s Will Levis, who had a case for inclusion after his impressive debut for the Wildcats. The redshirt junior passed for 367 yards and 4 touchdowns in Kentucky’s 45-10 win over UL Monroe on Saturday. If he keeps playing like that, it shouldn’t be long before he makes an appearance on one of these lists.