B/R's College Football Weekly Awards: Week 8
Expectations are dangerous. Before the 2023 season began, it was easy to get excited about the Week 8 slate. So many times, though, we've watched those potentially awesome weekends become busts.
Saturday, thankfully, lived up to our long-held hopes.
We watched Ohio State and Florida State pick up critical victories. We saw rivalry wins for Michigan and Alabama, along with Utah's continued dominance over USC, the upset of the season from Virginia and so many other awesome games on an action-packed day.
And we're not even diving into all of those results in the latest edition of B/R's Weekly Awards.
No, there are panic alarms at Clemson to discuss. There are sleepers, sleepwalkers and encores that demand our attention from a weekend that lived up to its lofty preseason hype.
If you're new here, hi! B/R's Weekly Awards is an often-lighthearted review of what happened in college football over the weekend.
Team of the Week: Ohio State Buckeyes
1 of 7
"Did the Buckeyes have the best performance of any team in the nation this weekend?" is not the question. If that was the case, Ohio State certainly would not be the choice here.
But the value of this result is undeniable.
Third-ranked OSU earned a 20-12 win over No. 7 Penn State in a battle of Big Ten unbeatens. The victory means the Buckeyes, in all likelihood, will face rival Michigan in the regular-season finale with conference and national implications at stake once again.
Yes, concerns remain about Ohio State's running game, but it helps to have Marvin Harrison Jr. to pick up the slack.
The star wideout put the Bucks on his back, reeling in 11 passes for 162 yards. He made a crucial third-down catch to set up OSU's first two scoring drives, had a 28-yard reception on a possession that ended with a field goal and nabbed the game-sealing 18-yard touchdown.
Ohio State improved to 7-0 and is poised for a favorable slate—at both Wisconsin and Rutgers before hosting Michigan State and Minnesota—leading up to the showdown with Michigan.
Statement of the Week: Utah Does It Again
2 of 7
Kyle Whittingham is the most underrated coach in college football. And it's fair to say Big Ten-bound USC is ready to stop thinking about Utah.
For the fourth consecutive time—all in the past three seasons—the Utes topped the Trojans. Most notably, perhaps, is that USC coach Lincoln Riley and quarterback Caleb Williams are 0-3.
Utah is simply USC's kryptonite.
Backup quarterback Bryson Barnes threw for 235 yards and three touchdowns, adding 57 rushing yards and a score. During the final minute with USC leading 32-31, he ripped off a clutch 26-yard scamper that set up Cole Becker's winning 38-yard field goal as time expired.
On paper, Utah should not be here. Star quarterback Cam Rising and tight end Brant Kuithe have not played while recovering from knee injuries, and Utah just announced they won't return in 2023.
Yet the Utes are 6-1 anyway, and they're still in the Pac-12 chase.
While upcoming showdowns with Oregon and Washington will determine Utah's ceiling, what the Utes have accomplished without Rising this season is a testament to Whittingham and his staff.
Upset of the Week: Virginia?!
3 of 7There's absolutely no question that Virginia just pulled off the most shocking upset of the season with a 31-27 triumph at North Carolina.
- Virginia was 1-5; North Carolina was 6-0.
- Virginia, a 120-year-old program, had never defeated an AP Top 10 opponent on the road. And, again, the Cavaliers entered with a single win—one that happened against a lower-division team.
- North Carolina, playing at home and led by now-former Heisman Trophy candidate Drake Maye, closed as a 24-point favorite.
I can assure you that's simply a start to a list loaded with potential fun facts. (Not remotely fun for UNC, of course.)
But what a win, Hoos.
Mike Hollins—who has recovered from gunshot wounds suffered in the tragic shooting that killed three teammates last year—rushed for three touchdowns. Malik Washington continued his breakout season with 12 catches for 115 yards and a score. James Jackson sealed the victory with a last-minute interception.
What an incredible win.
Sleeper of the Week: Here Comes UTSA
4 of 7
For several weeks now, I've debated including a note about UTSA. Let's quickly walk through their season.
Entering the year, the Roadrunners—who joined the AAC in 2023 after winning two back-to-back Conference USA titles—seemed built to contend in their league debut. UTSA, however, trudged to a 1-3 start as an injury sidelined seventh-year quarterback Frank Harris.
The good news? None of those losses happened in conference games. Harris returned in the AAC opener, and the Roadrunners have since rattled off three straight wins.
First, it was a 49-34 victory at Temple. They rolled UAB 41-20 last weekend before cruising past Florida Atlantic 36-10 on Saturday.
SMU and reigning AAC champ Tulane are also 3-0 in league play, so UTSA isn't officially a front-runner in the conference. But the Roadrunners are starting to play up to expectations—even though their journey has looked much different than anticipated.
Sleepwalker of the Week: Washington Survives ASU
5 of 7
How do you follow up a headline-worthy win over Oregon? Well, ideally, not like Washington did on Saturday.
Let's not bury the lede: Washington mustered a 15-7 win at home against Arizona State, which hasn't yet defeated an FBS team in 2023. The result, relative to championship hopes, is the most important thing.
That doesn't mean it was a convincing one.
Heisman favorite Michael Penix Jr. turned in his first dud of the season. He threw for an inefficient 275 yards (6.9 per attempt) with zero touchdowns and two interceptions. Washington also lost a fumble, totaled 13 rushing yards and managed six points on three red-zone trips.
In fact, the Huskies' lone touchdown was a vital 89-yard pick-six from Mishael Powell that saved the day. His interception midway through the fourth quarter flipped a 7-6 ASU edge into a 12-7 UW lead.
Washington is 7-0 and a definite title contender, but narrowly escaping one-win Arizona State is not a great look.
Panic Alarm of the Week: Clemson Tigers
6 of 7
After the surprising season-opening loss at Duke, Clemson had questions to answer. Nevertheless, it wasn't difficult to believe a traditional power would be able to overcome one rocky showing.
At some point, though, repeated mistakes become your identity. And they continue to crush the Tigers.
Following a 28-20 double-overtime loss at Miami, Clemson dropped to a frustrating 4-3. In each letdown so far, the offense lost a fumble in key moments. There were two red-zone giveaways at Duke, a loose ball that resulted in Florida State's game-tying touchdown and a goal-line giveaway that haunted the Tigers on Saturday night.
Not since 2011—the third season of Dabo Swinney's 15-year tenure—has Clemson lost four games.
A fourth setback feels like an inevitability now.
Given what has transpired this season, it feels impossible for Clemson to navigate North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and South Carolina unscathed.
Best of the Rest: Week 8
7 of 7
Encore of the Week: Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State
Last weekend, Ollie Gordon II piled up 168 rushing yards, six receptions for 116 yards and two touchdowns during an upset of Kansas. West Virginia didn't let Gordon catch a ball on Saturday! The bad news for the Mountaineers is they watched him scamper for 282 yards and four scores in a 48-34 OSU victory.
Bowl Bids of the Week: Rutgers and UNLV!
The streaks are over. Long live the streaks. Rutgers and UNLV both notched their sixth wins of the campaign on Saturday, securing outright bowl eligibility for the first time in a long time. Rutgers played in a 2021 postseason game but finished that season 5-7 and was a last-minute replacement. Otherwise, the Scarlet Knights hadn't landed a sixth victory since 2014. UNLV last achieved that in 2013.
Golf Clap of the Week: Nevada, Winless No More!
The final contest of Week 8 pitted Nevada against San Diego State. If you didn't watch, well, you didn't actually miss much. The offenses combined for 446 yards on a nauseating 3.9 per snap and six total points. In fun number news, however, Nevada—which entered with an 0-6 record—won 6-0! Finally, the Wolf Pack are in the win column. They leave Sam Houston State as the last winless team in the FBS.
