In normal times, Saturday would have been the finale of the regular season, a chance for divisional powers to secure a spot in a conference championship game or for in-state rivals to afford their fan base license to jeer their neighbors in grocery stores, churches and office cubicles for the next year. In normal times, the last Saturday in November represents tradition and history.

In 2020, it offered something completely different and yet still uniquely exhilarating.

In the aftermath of a 70-41 win, Buffalo coach Lance Leipold had to apologize Saturday. He had pulled his star tailback on the final drive, hoping to rest a guy with 36 carries already in the books, helplessly unaware that he had just ripped history from Jaret Patterson's grasp.

Then there was Missouri, which was also dominant Saturday. The Tigers' defense held Vanderbilt scoreless. Afterward, the only story was about a kicker who, on the stat sheet, contributed just a single kickoff but in the process kicked her way through another of sports' most defining glass ceilings.

In South Carolina, Trevor Lawrence announced Saturday's dominant win over Pitt was his last home game at Clemson. Maybe. Probably. Possibly. We'll see how the Jets finish.

There was also Nick Saban watching the Iron Bowl from home, Syracuse losing a game by spiking it on fourth down, and The Egg Bowl ending without a single player or coach mimicking an animal doing something salacious.

In other words, it wasn't a typical rivalry weekend.

Yes, we missed the old rivalries. There was no Clean Old Fashioned Hate, no Palmetto Bowl, no Commonwealth Cup. Even the games we did get failed to match expectations. Texas A&M cruised past LSU. Mississippi State hung with Ole Miss, but never led. Saban said he yelled at his TV a few times during the Iron Bowl, but given Alabama's 42-13 thumping of Auburn, it is likely he had flipped the channel to an airing of "Justice League" on TNT and was furious anyone thought Ben Affleck would make a good Batman.

Lucky for college football fans, we were treated to Sarah Fuller, the first woman to play in a Power 5 football game, suiting up for Vanderbilt. Her second-half kickoff proved her only action, a squib kick she placed perfectly, according to head coach Derek Mason, but she delivered a halftime speech to her team and delivered a powerful message to girls everywhere that no dream is out of reach. It's worth noting, too, that Fuller now leads the country in fewest kickoff return yards allowed (minimum 1 attempt).

And how about Patterson, who racked up 409 yards on the ground (second-most in FBS history) and eight touchdowns, tied for the FBS record. After he picked up a first down to the Kent State 23 late in the fourth quarter, Leipold pulled Patterson for backup Kevin Marks, who scored two plays later. Had those yards gone to Patterson, he would have owned both records outright. Flummoxed after the game, Leipold waved a stat sheet and lamented his ignorance. He had no clue Patterson was so close to the record. Fittingly, Patterson said he wasn't aware either, and didn't want the attention anyway.

In the Big Ten, instead of Ohio State-Michigan headlining the league's slate, we got Northwestern and Michigan State, in a game between two offenses that promised it wouldn't be just your Thanksgiving leftovers putting you to sleep. But the Spartans found an unexpected spark behind QB Rocky Lombardi, and the Northwestern playoff bandwagon drove into Lake Michigan after just a week on the road.

And down South, instead of one final showdown against South Carolina, Lawrence took the field for the first time in more than a month and delivered a fitting farewell to the home fans at Clemson. He threw for 403 yards and two touchdowns, then offered a heartfelt message to the place he's called home for the past three years.

No. Thank you, @Trevorlawrencee! 🧡 pic.twitter.com/xW3hgZwsBw

— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) November 29, 2020

Lastly, instead of a last-second Syracuse come-from-behind win against NC State, we got -- well, we got a series of plays that pretty perfectly summed up Syracuse football in 2020. Trailing by 7 with 24 seconds to play, QB Rex Culpepper scrambled for 11 seconds before inexplicably taking a sack. He then rushed his team to the line for a fourth-down play and ... spiked it. It was an embarrassing moment even at a school that nearly lost to Bryant in basketball the day before.

No, this certainly wasn't the rivalry weekend we might have hoped for in 2020, but it did remind us that sometimes the best twists in a college football season come from the strangest places. It reminded us that Penn State can still add a little salt to Michigan's wounds, that even down 22 in the second half, Gus Malzahn still loves kicking field goals and that Rutgers is no longer a punchline.

More than anything, it reminded us that there is always hope for something miraculous on a college football Saturday. Unless you spike it on fourth down.

Heisman Five

Whether Ohio State can play enough games to qualify for the Big Ten title game is a massive question looming over the sport, but Justin Fields' Heisman hopes are also all but evaporated if the Buckeyes can't get back on the field next week.

1. Florida QB Kyle Trask

Trask had just three touchdown passes and threw six incompletions. The fact that those numbers are disappointing is why he's atop this list. But more importantly, this shirt should win all the Heismans.

This shirt though 👀 pic.twitter.com/O3KLnFgt8Z

— Andrea Adelson (@aadelsonESPN) November 28, 2020

2. Alabama QB Mac Jones

Fun fact: Jones now has nine passing touchdowns against Auburn in his career, the same total as Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts combined.

3. Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence

Remember Lawrence? He's the guy with the hair that used to be the odds-on favorite to win the Heisman before disappearing from action for a month? Well, turns out, he's still good. Lawrence threw for 400 yards in an easy win over Pitt and remains on track to get a make-up date with Notre Dame in the ACC championship.

4. BYU QB Zach Wilson

Barring a scheduling change, BYU will go 37 days between games vs. FBS opponents, and that's not good for Wilson's Heisman campaign. He's absolutely one of the best players in college football, but at this point, it might be a surprise if Heisman voters viewed things much differently than the playoff committee when it comes to evaluating Wilson and the Cougars.

5. Buffalo RB Jaret Patterson

We have a firm rule here: If you double up Al Bundy's famed four-TD game at Polk High, you're automatically added to the Heisman list.

Michigan makes history ... and not the good kind

Give Jim Harbaugh some credit: There was a reason he hadn't made a QB change earlier this year. The Cade McNamara show turned out to be every bit as ugly as the Joe Milton show, with the duo combining for just 112 yards through the air Saturday. Who would've imagined Michigan fans would long for the days of Shea Patterson?

Meanwhile, Sean Clifford was solid, if unspectacular, leading Penn State to a long-awaited win. It was far from a performance that will change perceptions of the Nittany Lions' season, but according to Elias, they did manage a historic feat. Saturday's was Michigan's 1,350th game in program history, and it was the first time the Wolverines have ever lost to a team that was 0-5 or worse.

That's the kind of loss that gets you an interview with the Jets.

Who caught it better?

We're stealing People Magazine's "Who wore it better?" bit and applying it to receivers this week. So, which one-handed catch is more impressive?

Option 1: Clemson's Cornell Powell takes it 70 yards to the house.

Option 2: Mississippi State's Jaden Walley looking the safety in the eye as he hauls it in.

Jaden Walley's (@WalleyJaden) 156 yards receiving is the most in a single game by a freshman in program history.#HailState🐶 pic.twitter.com/kRE2PtCTe1

— Mississippi State Football (@HailStateFB) November 29, 2020

Our pick: Moose out front should've told ya, we're going with Walley World -- mostly because we wanted to make a "National Lampoon's Vacation" joke.

Under-the-radar play of the day

ECU pulled out all the stops in a massive upset of SMU, including a 35-yard touchdown throw by receiver Tyler Snead on a trick play. The Pirates were a 12-point underdog in this one, but led 45-7 at the half -- their largest lead in a game since 2016.

Under-the-radar game of the day

OK, technically Oregon State's stunner against Oregon didn't come Saturday, but it ended late enough Friday to count. The Beavers erased a 31-19 fourth-quarter deficit and won it following a goal-line replay, a confounding explanation from officials that, if the referee had any sense of humor, would have concluded with "Boom goes the dynamite," and a 1-yard TD run with 33 seconds to play by Chance Nolan, on his first career touch. In the end, we got at least one good rivalry game on the final weekend of November.

Best bets and bad beats

Quick hits