College football Week 8 winners, losers, overreactions: Miami hits another low as Oregon continues to soar

Miami pulled off what was regarded by many as the coup of the century by stealing Mario Cristobal from Oregon after the Hurricanes alum gained a pair of Pac-12 championships as coach of the Ducks. When Cristobal landed 11 extremely touted transfers to be a part of heralded quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, the hype practice was primed and prepared. The U was again. Then the season started. 

Dropping the sport towards Texas A&M harm, however dropping to Middle Tennessee was inexplicable. In Week 8, issues solely received worse as Duke stomped Miami 45-21 to hand the Hurricanes their worst loss within the historical past of the matchup. Van Dyke went out and the Hurricanes responded with eight turnovers. Every week, Cristobal’s program seemingly springs a brand new leak one way or the other worse than the week earlier than. A bowl sport looks as if a pipe dream at this level. 

It’s one factor to lose video games towards proficient groups which might be deep of their improvement cycles. Texas A&M is 5 years into the Jimbo Fisher experiment. While Miami ought to by no means battle towards Middle Tennessee, coach Rick Stockstill has been there for 16 years. Losing towards fellow first-year coach Mike Elko, nonetheless? That’s unacceptable. Cristobal had each single benefit towards Elko, however foolish, expensive errors proceed to doom this program. It’s Year 1, however frankly, that is on teaching. For all the cash boosters are paying Cristobal, the efficiency this season is a complete failure. 

Here are extra winners, losers and overreactions from Week 8 across the school football world. 

Winners

Oregon: The Ducks have been relegated to the dustbin after dropping 49-3 resolution towards No. 2 Georgia within the opener. After crushing No. 9 UCLA 45-30, it is honest to dismiss that outcome as a first-game aberration. The Ducks have taken management of the Pac-12 title race with wins over UCLA and Washington State with No. 15 Utah standing as the one ranked group remaining on their schedule. Quarterback Bo Nix has usually stayed mistake-free over the previous few weeks thanks to some nifty play-calling from offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham. Getting into Rose Bowl and playoff consideration in Year 1 is a good begin for Dan Lanning in his first season. 

LSU: Don’t look now, however the Tigers are secretly fairly spectacular. No. 7 Ole Miss was possible buoyed by a nasty schedule, however LSU floor them into mud every week after beating Florida by double-digits. A 15-point win over Mississippi State early within the yr is ageing gracefully. The solely losses got here in a one-point resolution towards Florida State swung by particular groups and towards No. 3 Tennessee. Brian Kelly was mocked for a lot of the offseason after he took the job in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, however LSU has improved steadily each week. The Tigers ought to re-enter the AP Top 25 on Sunday, and even management their very own path within the SEC West title race. Everything is on the desk. 

Losers

Texas: The hype practice is formally off the rails after the Longhorns blew another second-half lead in a 41-34 loss on the street towards No. 11 Oklahoma State. Texas was favored by almost a landing towards a banged up Cowboys squad, however Quinn Ewers picked a nasty time to have a depressing sport. Ewers accomplished simply 38% of his passes with three interceptions in his first street begin as the senior Spencer Sanders outplayed him in each aspect. The Longhorns have been held to simply three factors throughout your entire second half and gave up 17 unanswered factors. They now enter a troublesome ultimate stretch with 4 losable video games and two ranked opponents remaining. Steve Sarkisian has misplaced 4 video games yearly as a head coach, and the ‘Horns are proper on monitor. 

Syracuse: Frankly, the Orange wasted a once-in-a-lifetime alternative on Saturday in Death Valley. Clemson entered the day with a 36-game residence profitable streak courting again to the 2016 season. The Tigers have gained six of the previous seven ACC championships. Syracuse has not gained a convention title since 1998 as a member of the Big East. The Orange led 21-7 within the first half on the street and 21-10 getting into the fourth quarter, and the whole lot was lined up for this system to take management of the ACC Atlantic race. Unfortunately for Syracuse, Clemson backup quarterback Cade Klubnik got here within the sport and scored 17 unanswered factors to draw back for the win. Syracuse had three separate drives to win the sport and could not ship. The Orange are nonetheless having a historic season and may stay within the AP Top 25, however this loss will harm for some time. 

Overreactions

Iowa’s offense is a humiliation: The Hawkeyes have by no means been a dynamic offensive group underneath Kirk Ferentz, however Iowa’s offensive efficiency towards Ohio State belongs within the historical past books for all of the flawed causes as it mustered simply 158 whole yards on 2.7 yards per play with six turnovers. 

But maybe most pathetic: Iowa’s depressing offense really screwed its hardworking protection on a number of events. Ohio State took a 33-10 lead over Iowa within the third quarter regardless of just one scoring drive over 24 yards. It took simply 360 yards for the Buckeyes to hit 54 factors as a result of the Iowa offense was so traditionally inept that it successfully made Ohio State drives a chip-in. 

We get it, Kirk, offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz is your son and you like him. The truth is that the way by which Ferentz is dealing with this example may legitimately tarnish the status of the longest-tenured coach in school football. With USC and UCLA set to be a part of the Big Ten in 2024, Iowa as a program would possibly want to ask some troublesome questions on whether or not Ferentz’s program can compete when it does not play in one of many worst divisions in main school football. 

Injuries will determine the Big 12 race: No. 8 TCU pulled off but another miraculous comeback, this time getting back from down 28-10 to beat No. 17 Kansas State 38-28 to take management of the Big 12 race. But whereas the Frogs moved to 7-0 with a fourth-straight victory over an AP Top 25 opponent, the story of the Big 12 race has additionally been about who has not been within the lineup. 

Kansas State quarterback Adrian Martinez left after the primary drive with an undisclosed damage whereas different defensive gamers have been misplaced at varied factors. TCU additionally performed towards Kansas’ backup quarterback. In truth, six totally different Big 12 groups — together with TCU — have began a backup quarterback sooner or later this season. 

By many statistical fashions, the Big 12 is the deepest convention in school football this season. With no weeks off, accidents are beginning to pile up. The Big 12 race may finally come down to which groups have constructed one of the best depth and might take care of accidents finest. Through eight weeks, undefeated TCU stands aside.