Carson Beck and Jalen Milroe had to replace big-name quarterbacks at programs with national title-or-bust expectations.

No sweat, right?

Beck has kept No. 1 Georgia rolling after replacing two-time national champion quarterback Stetson Bennett. Milroe and No. 8 Alabama rebounded strongly from a rocky start in replacing No. 1 NFL draft pick and 2021 Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young. Both quarterbacks have been good enough to help set up a meeting Saturday in the Southeastern Conference championship game, with playoff hopes potentially on the line. Milroe’s own resurgence after a Week 3 benching for the South Florida game played a major role in helping the Crimson Tide rally from an early loss to No. 7 Texas to win 10 straight.

“I think his transformation at the quarterback position has helped us transform our entire offensive team,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “The confidence that he’s playing with, the confidence that our players have in him. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of trying to utilize the skill set that he has. He’s learned that the most important thing at his position is to distribute the ball. He’s done a really, really good job of that.”

That includes delivering one of the most improbable plays of the season. Milroe’s fourth-and-31 touchdown pass to Isaiah Bond with 32 seconds left lifted Alabama to a 27-24 victory over Auburn in the Iron Bowl, preserving the Tide’s still-shaky playoff chances.

“Absolutely insane,” Beck said. “Just a crazy play.”

Beck and the Bulldogs, meanwhile, have preserved a winning streak that has stretched to 29 games. His turning point may have come in the SEC opener against South Carolina, when Beck rallied Georgia from a 14-3 halftime deficit to win 24-14.

“I think our confidence kind of shot up from there,” Beck said. “We’ve been able to pick up steam as the season has gone along.”

Beck has thrown for 3,495 yards and 22 touchdowns against six interceptions, while completing 72.4% of his passes.

Milroe has thrown for 2,526 yards and 21 touchdowns, also with six interceptions. He has run for 439 yards and 12 TDs. Milroe is third in passing efficiency and Beck eighth.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart compared Beck to “a bigger, physical version” of Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

“He is playing in a different speed than anybody else when you watch it,” Smart said.

Most importantly, they’ve both won. And Milroe has done something even Young couldn’t do last season: lead the Tide to the SEC title game.

Hawkeyes’ Higgins earned his moment, waiting behind star Campbell: Jay Higgins was never going to make anyone forget Jack Campbell. What he did instead was make a name for himself that, same as Campbell’s, will be long remembered in Iowa Hawkeyes lore.

Higgins was the next man up at middle linebacker when the consensus All-American and Butkus Award winner left after last season and became a first-round NFL draft pick.

Higgins has turned into a prodigious tackler just like his predecessor. He’ll return to his hometown of Indianapolis for Saturday night’s Big Ten championship game against No. 2 Michigan with 141 tackles in 12 games. That’s most among Power Five players and 13 more than Campbell had in 13 games last season.

“It ain’t surprising me,” Campbell, now a starter for the Lions, said Wednesday. “I know he wanted to play at a young age. Who doesn’t? Especially with the transfer portal, he could of left, but he stayed and it has paid off.”

Campbell hardly came off the field in 2021 and ’22, so Higgins excelled on special teams and took whatever playing time he could get at linebacker. Any pent-up frustration from waiting his turn was unleashed at Kinnick Stadium when he made 16 tackles and broke up two passes in the opener against Utah State. A few weeks later he made a career-high 18 stops against Penn State, and he had six other games with at least 10 tackles.

“I’d say probably the most fun I’ve had at Iowa so far,” Higgins said of his fourth season. “Obviously, I love my experience here. But when you’re the guy that’s just learning and you’re in the system watching Jack Campbell and Seth Benson make all the plays and have all the fun, it gets a little challenging. Those memories in Kinnick when you’re the one making plays, you know how much you sacrificed for the moment. It means a little more.”

Higgins’ season is the result of his never taking a day off when it would have been easy for him to so as a backup, defensive end Joe Evans said.

“When a guy is working his tail off like he has, and when he goes out there and he’s making big play after big play and leads the Power Five in tackles, it’s not shocking because I see all the work that he’s been putting in,” Evans said. “He means so much to this team.”

Coach Kirk Ferentz said he and the staff were confident Higgins would play well when he got his opportunity.

“I’m not sure any of us could have predicted he would play at the level he’s playing right now,” Ferentz said. “He replaced one of our best all-time players in Jack Campbell. I’ve always talked to our guys about if you want to get better, pay attention to people and know what they’re doing. Jay was taking notes.”