College football is unpredictable and delightful, which is why we live for what happens on Saturdays. And the third Saturday of October did not disappoint, from the goalposts going down in Knoxville to a statement win in Austin and everything in between.
Each Sunday, I’ll publish my biggest takeaways from the college football weekend. I’ll highlight the most interesting storylines, track College Football Playoff contenders and specifically shout out individual and team performances that deserve the spotlight.
Here are my top takeaways from Week 8:
1. There might not be an elite team in college football this year.
I certainly wouldn’t want to be ranked No. 1 in the country. It seems like a bit of a curse, but it’s also emblematic of a topsy-turvy season. I’m not sure if any team is head and shoulders better than the rest as we sit here looking at the college football landscape in late October. Oregon is unbeaten but looked shaky the first few weeks of the season. Ohio State’s defense struggled in its loss to the Ducks. Texas got exposed offensively against Georgia — a team that got beat by a not-great Alabama team. Penn State hasn’t been tested and may not have a championship-caliber offense or defense. The top of the sport feels closer to the bottom end of the top 25 than it has in recent years, which is both a bit confusing for those of us who try to analyze college football and also exciting, because it genuinely does seem like the portal and NIL have spread the wealth a bit.
2. Georgia is tough as nails defensively.
These are the Bulldogs we thought we’d see this year — at least, on the defensive side of the ball. They were physical and focused from the start of the game against Texas, as evidenced by a first half with just 38 total yards of offense by the Longhorns (and a quarterback change). Georgia had seven sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception in an absolutely dominant defensive performance. It was crucial to see and do all of that, because Carson Beck did not have a very good game at quarterback. He completed just 56 percent of his passes for 175 yards and three picks. Beck could be a limiting factor for this team moving forward, but it didn’t cost the ‘Dawgs in their most important game of the season to date.
3. How is Texas going to handle its quarterback room moving forward?
As soon as Steve Sarkisian subbed Arch Manning into the game late in the second quarter, I figured he’d have to stick with Manning regardless of what happened. And then Manning looked like a deer in headlights, and Sarkisian went back to Quinn Ewers in the second half. Overall, Ewers didn’t play well, and the Texas offense was exposed as a unit that found its previous success against not-elite defenses. Afterward, Sarkisian said that Ewers seemed uneasy and he wanted to give his QB1 a chance to regroup by playing his very famous backup. He said Ewers is his starting quarterback moving forward, but I’ll be curious to see how this plays out. Does Ewers look over his shoulder every time he makes a mistake in practice? Or if he throws a pick in a game? Does Manning get antsy? A week ago, I said I thought Texas had the most enviable quarterback situation in the country, and now I think it’s maybe the messiest.
4. Indiana could very well make the College Football Playoff.
No, really, it can. There was some talk about the Hoosiers’ soft schedule entering Saturday, but if you watched the way they trounced Nebraska — which boasts one of the nation’s best defenses — you couldn’t come away from that game without buying into what Curt Cignetti is building. This is a good football team, not a fluke. The Hoosiers have not trailed for a single play this entire season, and it’s clear that when they walk onto the field on Saturdays, they believe they can and should win the game. They’re well-coached, efficient offensively and sound defensively. It is genuinely cool to see Bloomington come alive for its football team, and for that football team to reward the fan base’s enthusiasm with a 49-point win over Nebraska, which is tied for the largest margin of victory Indiana has ever had against a conference opponent.
And if you look at the Hoosiers’ remaining schedule, there’s a very good chance they’ll be favored in all but one game (Ohio State). Not only does Indiana have a great chance to win 10 games in a single season for the first time in program history, but this team has a clear path to the Big Ten championship game and perhaps the Playoff, too. We’ll have to see how serious Kurtis Rourke’s thumb injury is, but if Cignetti said he was “optimistic” about it moving forward, we should feel good about it, too.
5. Alabama could very well miss the College Football Playoff.
It’s been a swift fall from grace for Kalen DeBoer, who probably didn’t have much grace from this Alabama fan base in the first place. Tide fans expect excellence, and they are getting a rebuild. It’s the first time that Alabama has dropped two games before the month of November since 2007, Nick Saban’s first season in Tuscaloosa. This is not how the post-Saban era was supposed to go. The defense is not supposed to be giving up big plays. Jalen Milroe is not supposed to throw bad picks. It’s not just that Alabama doesn’t pass the eye test when it comes to the CFP. It’s that the Tide already have two losses and an uphill battle to even make it to the SEC championship game … and are a team that could easily lose to Missouri or LSU or even Auburn in the Iron Bowl. I guess we can never officially rule a two-loss team out of the CFP race, because we don’t know what the threshold will be for an at-large bid in the first year of the 12-team bracket. But this team gives me little reason to believe Alabama can play well enough to do all of the things necessary to play their way into the SEC title game (and a potential auto-bid), though the Tide would also need some help.
6. Notre Dame has righted its ship.
The Fighting Irish have now won five games in a row, the loss to Northern Illinois all but a distant memory. I said it at the time, but it bears repeating: The 12-team CFP is not set up to exclude a one-loss Notre Dame team. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a good or bad loss. It just matters that the Irish win out, and it helps this season that both Army and Navy are currently both ranked and both unbeaten. Even though quarterback Riley Leonard is maybe always a bigger threat as a runner, Notre Dame has figured out a passing attack that is more than serviceable. Leonard has thrown for more than 200 yards in each of the Irish’s last two games, and not coincidentally, this team has been able to pull away from an inferior opponent in both. Navy will be a tough test next weekend, but this is as good I’ve felt about Notre Dame this entire season.
QB Leonard runs for 2 TDs as No. 12 Notre Dame leans on strong defense to beat Georgia Tech 31-13
Riley Leonard bolstered No. 12 Notre Dame’s playoff hopes by rushing for two touchdowns and the Fighting Irish defense was dominant after a slow start in a 31-13 win over Georgia Tech on Saturday.
7. The only SEC teams unbeaten in conference play are … LSU and Texas &M.
Just like we all predicted! And those two teams meet next week, so one of them will remain unbeaten heading into November — which is pretty crazy considering how many of us kind of wrote them off after high-profile Week 1 losses. It did take two logic-defying comebacks (against South Carolina and Ole Miss) for LSU to remain undefeated in SEC play, but the Tigers are here and ready to factor into the conference race. They avoid Georgia, Texas and Tennessee this season, and I’ll give LSU as good a chance as anyone else as earning a trip to Atlanta. Meanwhile, the Aggies have won six in a row behind one of the best rushing attacks in the SEC and seem destined to resume their rivalry with Texas after more than a decade hiatus with a potential CFP berth on the line.
8. Lincoln Riley’s seat should be warming up.
I understand that a massive buyout makes any change at the end of this season extremely unlikely, but it’s time to seriously have a conversation about Riley’s tenure at USC. He started it with an 11-1 record, and he’s gone 11-11 since. USC has lost nine of its last 14 games dating back to last season. And the four losses this season have all followed the exact same script. USC gave up the game-winning touchdown in the final minute of regulation in three of them. The fourth? The Trojans gave up the game-tying touchdown pass to Penn State and subsequently lost to the Nittany Lions in overtime. It’s astounding that this team cannot fix its late-game issues. It’s disappointing to see the current state of USC, one of the bluebloods of the sport and a program that should be contending for national championships. This is not what USC thought it was getting when it spent so much money to swipe Riley from Oklahoma, and it’s certainly not what the fan base expected after all the talk of defensive improvement this offseason. As it turns out, Riley’s offenses are significantly less lethal without a Heisman Trophy-winner at quarterback, and the teams are not tough enough to grind out wins when it matters the most.
USC blows a 14-point lead to lose its third game in a row, falling 29-28 at Maryland
USC blew another late lead, losing 29-28 at Maryland on Saturday to extend its season-sinking skid to three.
9. Miami’s got a championship-caliber offense and a leaky defense.
While this doesn’t bode well for the Hurricanes if and when they get to the CFP, it does give us highly entertaining games on a weekly basis. And I won’t complain about getting shootouts like the one we saw between Miami and Louisville on Saturday. It gives us some incredible moments freestyled by Cam Ward, but it also makes me concerned about the long-term potential of this team. Miami has given up an average of 404 yards and 39 points per game in ACC play, and for as weak as the middle and bottom of this conference is, that still gives me pause. I don’t think that’ll fly against Clemson, Pitt or SMU — all teams that the ‘Canes wouldn’t meet until the ACC championship game. So, this may not be an issue for a while … but it seems like it’s going to be an issue.
10. Florida State’s season is a complete disaster.
The Seminoles went unbeaten in the regular season last year and believed they should have been part of the four-team College Football Playoff. And then the wheels fell off completely. Despite losing so much talent to graduation and the NFL, it’s still shocking to watch Florida State become one of the worst offenses in the entire country. And at this point, it’s obviously not just DJ Uiagalelei. It’s the receivers, the running backs, the offensive line — everything. Three turnovers in three snaps in Friday night’s loss to Duke? That’s just unacceptable and also confounding. Mike Norvell is not actually on the hot seat, but it’s incredibly disappointing to see his program in this state. Can he build more through high school recruiting? Can he get the right quarterback this coming offseason? Only time will tell, but Norvell certainly will face a good deal of pressure to get the answers right to these questions.