College Football 2023: B/R's Top 25 Rankings After Week 8
College football's Week 8 featured some big-time matchups. Starting with Penn State-Ohio State, where the Buckeyes' defense stifled the Nittany Lions to win 20-12.
In the afternoon slate of games, No. 11 Alabama had a monster second half to get past No. 17 Tennessee. The Tide trailed 20-7 at halftime but then scored 27 unanswered points to win 34-20.
No. 8 Texas survived a scare against Houston on the road. It was tied at 24-all in the fourth until CJ Baxter's 16-yard touchdown run gave the Longhorns a 31-24 lead. Houston had a chance for a late-game fourth-down conversion deep in Texas territory, but turned the ball over on downs to let the Longhorns escape with a win.
And in the evening slate, we saw Florida State overcome Duke at home 38-20, and USC fell 34-32 to Utah on a 38-yard field goal in the game's final seconds. Unbeaten North Carolina also shockingly fell at home to a previously 1-5 Virginia team. Washington narrowly escaped the same fate with a 15-7 win over ASU.
Bleacher Report College Football experts Adam Kramer, Morgan Moriarty and Brad Shepard tried to make sense of it all and handed out rankings this way:
1. Michigan
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Washington
5. Florida State
6. Oklahoma
7. Texas
T-8. Alabama
T-8. Oregon
10. Utah
11. Oregon State
12. Ole Miss
13. Notre Dame
14. LSU
15. Penn State
16. Missouri
17. UCLA
18. Air Force
19. Tennessee
20. Louisville
T-21. Duke
T-21. USC
T-21. Tulane
24. James Madison
T-25. North Carolina
T-25. Washington State
Who's Hot: Jayden Daniels Heisman Hype
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Thanks to USC and Caleb Williams losing for second successive Saturday, there's a new face emerging in the Heisman race. Sure, LSU may no longer be in the playoff race, but its quarterback, Jayden Daniels, definitely looks to be in the mix for the Heisman Trophy.
Daniels came into LSU's game against Army on Saturday night ranked third nationally in passing yards. Sitting behind Washington's Michael Penix, Jr. and Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, Daniels had 2,294 yards and 22 touchdowns in the air through seven games.
Although the Black Knights entered 2-4 on the year, its defense impressively ranked 14th in passing yards allowed per game. Daniels cut through this defense like Swiss cheese, throwing for 279 yards and three scores along with a rushing touchdown during LSU's 62-0 rout.
Daniels has the highest quarterback rating (197.74) in the country, too. No, I'm not saying that Washington's Penix Jr. can't win the award come December. But the Huskies' QB struggled vs. ASU and still has to play USC, Utah, Oregon State and Washington State during the rest of the regular season.
That's all before a possible Pac-12 title game, which will be another big stage for Penix. With as deep a conference as the Pac-12 is this season, there's a lot more chances for him to stumble as the year progresses. Daniels, meanwhile, has to play Alabama, Florida, Georgia State and Texas A&M to close out the season. There might be more of a chance for Daniels to put up even bigger numbers than Penix, just looking at who he has left to play.
It sure should be a fun Heisman race between these two talented quarterbacks, and I can't wait to see how it plays out. One thing for certain, though, is that Daniels has solidified himself as a legit contender for the hardware.
Who's Not: Penn State's Offense
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The Nittany Lions didn't look like the same team we've been watching for the past seven weeks on Saturday. Penn State's offense came into this game against No. 3 Ohio State averaging 44.3 points per game—good for fifth in the nation, tied with the Washington Huskies.
But Penn State's high-scoring offense couldn't do anything against this Buckeye defense. The Nittany Lions managed just two field goals in the first half. Penn State's only touchdown of the day was pretty meaningless, coming as OSU led by 14 and with 29 seconds left in the game.
The biggest thing that stood out? How out of sorts Penn State quarterback Drew Allar looked against OSU. The Medina, Ohio, native, playing against the team he grew up rooting for, finished 18-for-42 for 191 yards with one touchdown. It was the worst game he's had all season by far.
Obviously, this loss doesn't fall entirely on Allar's shoulders—Nittany Lion running back Nicholas Singleton was held to just 48 yards on nine carries. Kaytron Allen had just 26 on the ground. The Nittany Lions also went an abysmal 1-for-16 on third down.
"When you look at today and the combination of lack of success on third down and explosive plays, [we] have to look at that hard," Penn State head coach James Franklin said postgame. "Things they can do in terms of how they're calling plays. And from fundamentals. But Drew needs guys to make plays on a more consistent basis, no doubt about it."
Ohio State did enter this one with the No. 3 scoring defense in the country, but no one expected this level of lifelessness from Penn State offensively.
Fun Fact: Virginia Just Got Its First Top-10 Road Win in School History!
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This one was an absolute stunner in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels entered this one undefeated and ranked No. 10 in the country. UNC was a 24-point favorite at home against the 1-5 Cavaliers. Virginia started the season 0-5, getting its first win of the season on Oct. 7 over William & Mary.
It was a close one throughout. UNC had a 17-14 lead at halftime, but it was tied at 24-all entering the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers defense stepped up huge in the final 15 minutes, holding UNC to just a field goal. Aside from the field goal, UNC's longest drive of the quarter lasted six plays, and Virginia's defense forced two Tar Heel three-and-outs. Virginia took a 31-27 lead with a touchdown scored with 8:51 left.
UNC QB Drake Maye threw an interception with 26 seconds left to seal Virginia's upset victory. It was a huge win for UVA, giving the Cavaliers their first-ever road win over a top-10 opponent. UNC entering as a 24-point favorite also made this one of the biggest upsets in the ACC conference play over the past 30 years. It's a huge victory for UVA head coach Tony Elliott, whose team finished 3-7 last season.
For UNC, this ruins any chance of an ACC title, which compounds the sting of what was already a truly embarrassing loss.
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Looking Ahead: Florida-Georgia, Oregon-Utah Headline Week 9
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College football's Week 9 doesn't have too many ranked vs. ranked matchups, but it's still got some good games to watch.
The headliner is undoubtedly Florida vs. Georgia in Jacksonville, Florida. Sure, this game didn't look too intriguing earlier in the season after the Gators suffered their second loss of the season to Kentucky.
But if Florida plays like it did in a come-from-behind win on the road last week against South Carolina, Georgia could be in trouble. Florida QB Graham Mertz throwing for 423 yards and three touchdowns like he did vs. the Gamecocks would make things interesting, too. Georgia is undefeated, but the Dawgs haven't nearly looked as dominant as they did the past two seasons.
Per usual, the winner of this one has an inside track to represent the SEC East in Atlanta come December.
Oregon will look to keep pace among the cluster of one-loss Pac-12 teams against Utah next week. Utah beat USC at home 34-32 on Saturday, knocking the Trojans out of the playoff race before the month of November. Playing against the Utes on the road will be a tough task, even for a great team like Oregon.
Elsewhere, some big-name teams will have to pass some road tests. Ohio State goes on the road to face Wisconsin, and Colorado will look to get back on track at UCLA. Oklahoma goes on the road to face 5-2 Kansas, and Florida State will travel to Wake Forest to take on the Deacs.
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