Studs and Duds from Week 8 in College Football

Week 8 of the 2012 college-football season was a good one.

We had tons of football, replete with excellent individual performances, blowouts and even an upset or two.

That is what this list is about.

The 10 "studs" provided us with some impressive stats, records and highlights, while the "duds" were embarrassing.

As you while away the hours until college football returns to your screen later this week, take a few minutes to check out who made the list of best and worst for Week 8.

Stud: Matt Barkley, QB, USC

Barkley set the career touchdown mark for USC quarterbacks Saturday, but that reason alone is not why he makes this list.

The man tossed six scores, and completed 19-of-20 passes for 298 yards while leading the Trojans to a blowout victory over Colorado.

Given Geno Smith's recent struggles, Barkley has an opportunity to fight his way back into the Heisman conversation, especially with more big games such as this one.

Dud: Jordan Webb, QB, Colorado

Conversely, while Matt Barkley was completing touchdown passes with startling regularity, his counterpart at Colorado, Jordan Webb, was struggling mightily.

Webb completed 18 passes for 210 yards against the Trojans, but threw three interceptions and struggled on third down, as Colorado only converted 6-of-16 attempts on third down.

Stud: Duke

The Blue Devils are in the middle of a special season, by Duke standards.

With the team's victory over North Carolina, it became bowl-eligible for the first time since 1994.

That is 18 years ago.

Give the guys some credit for getting it done on the field and give David Cutcliffe some love for turning this program around.

Dud: Purdue

Ohio State quarterback Kenny Guiton is a hero after his performance in the waning minutes of the Buckeyes' win over Purdue.

But that win was more about Purdue turning into "Pur-don't" than Ohio State's spectacular level of play.

The Boilermakers dominated the game, with the exception of Braxton Miller, until he went out near the end of the third quarter with an injury.

The Boilers proceeded to allow OSU to march down the field with under a minute left, tie the game on a two-point conversion and pull out the improbable victory in overtime.

Stud: Seth Doege, QB, Texas Tech

When do we start talking about this guy for the Heisman?

In his most recent performance, he set a TTU record with seven touchdown passes against TCU, including the game-winner in triple overtime.

While his interception numbers are not that great, he has tossed 28 touchdowns already this season and accumulated 2,209 passing yards.

The Heisman might be a bit ambitious, but at the very least, he deserves a mention on this list.

Dud: Kansas Special Teams

It's not unusual for a team to give up either a punt return or kick return for a touchdown in a game.

It happens.

But both in the same game is pathetic.

That's exactly what happened to Kansas against Oklahoma.

Justin Brown scored on a 90-yard punt return for the Sooners, and Roy Finch started off the second half with a 100-yard kickoff return for a score.

So, for Kansas, other than offense, defense and special teams, things are going great!

Stud: Michael Cole, S, Virginia Tech

The man made an interception, lying flat on his back.

Give him some props.

Dud: Temple's Second Half

Temple, back in the Big East after a few years of exile for poor play, jumped out to a 10-0 lead on No. 15 Rutgers and held it going into halftime.

Unfortunately for the Owls, they had to play the second half.

Rutgers dominated, putting up 35 unanswered points en route to the 35-10 victory.

Talk about a tale of two halves...this was it.

Stud: Kenneth Dixon, RB, Louisiana Tech

Dixon is a freshman running back at Louisiana Tech.

He is also your current leader in rushing touchdowns on the season, after finding paydirt six times in the Bulldogs' contest against Idaho.

That performance brought him to 12 touchdowns in his last three games and 16 on the season.

It was Idaho, which is not exactly the stoutest defense, but he scored six times.

Dud: UConn Rushing

UConn lost to Syracuse Friday, 40-10.

Part of the reason was the team's inability to rush the ball, at all.

And that's not an understatement.

Between Lyle McCombs, Scott McCummings and quarterback Chandler Whitmer, the Huskies rushed the ball 18 times.

Combined, the three racked up a whopping minus-six yards.

Stud: Manti Te'o, LB, Notre Dame

For the fifth time in has last six games, Te'o registered at least 10 tackles.

He also tallied an interception against BYU and continues to lead the Irish defense to great success.

This defense still has not allowed a rushing touchdown in 2012, and a very key part of that success has been Te'o's leadership in the middle of the field.

Dud: Utah's Defensive Line

The Utah defensive line is supposed to be the strength of the defense.

Led by Star Lotulelei, it is a deep, talented unit that can cause problems for an offense at times.

But it is inconsistent, and that was never more apparent than against Oregon State over the weekend.

The Utes' defensive line gave up three rushing touchdowns, never registered a sack and did not have much of an impact on the game.

Stud: Wisconsin Running Backs

That's the Wisconsin we know.

The Badgers' running game has not been quite up to snuff this season, but Saturday emphasized the fact that they are still a great rushing team.

Jame White and Montee Ball both broke the 150-yard mark, the first time two backs from the same team have done this since Oregon did it against Wisconsin in the 2012 Rose Bowl.

The two of them combined for 341 yards and five touchdowns against Minnesota, as the Badgers retained Paul Bunyan's Axe for the ninth consecutive season.

Dud: Cal Rushing Game

In case you didn't know, the "Big Game" between Cal and Stanford took place over the weekend.

Stanford won easily, 21-3.

A huge reason for Cal's ineffectiveness on any level was the team's inability to run the ball.

Cal averages 171 yards on the ground per game, but could only muster a grand total of three against Stanford's stout defense.

Stud: Kyle Christy, P, Florida

Yes, Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel threw four touchdowns, but still had fewer than 100 yards throwing the ball.

Christy, however, was dominant at his position for the Gators.

He punted seven times, averaging over 52 yards per punt, including a long of 62 yards.

All seven of his kicks were at least 50 yards, including one downed inside the 20.

Driskel may have scored in short-yardage situations, but Christy kept South Carolina pinned all day long.

Dud: Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M

"Johnny Football" left this game wishing he was "Johnny Tennis" instead.

Coming off of a week in which he set the SEC record for total offense, he found himself facing the LSU defense.

The result was not good.

He finished 29-of-56 passing with four turnovers and only 27 yards on the ground, looking disjointed and harried all day long.

Credit Les Miles and his staff for making adjustments to slow him after a fast start, but Manziel's effort was one that A&M fans would rather forget.

Stud: Oregon

The final score last Thursday night was deceptive.

The Ducks won the game, 43-21.

However, there is much more to that story than the score reveals.

ASU went ahead, 7-0, early in the first quarter, only to be blanked until 9:33 was left in the fourth quarter.

The Ducks scored 43 consecutive points, throttled the Sun Devils' offense and ran all over their vaunted defense until Chip Kelly pulled the second string.

It was efficient, brutal and a major statement as the Ducks asserted their Pac-12 superiority once again.

Dud: West Virginia

After suffering a brutal beating at the hands of Texas Tech last week, Geno Smith and West Virginia would bounce back at home against Kansas State, right?

Nope.

Geno Smith threw not one, but two, interceptions—his first of the season—and the Mountaineers could not slow Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein.

As a matter of fact, the WVU defense allowed Klein to have his first 300-plus-yard passing game and the Wildcats to score seven times.

When the dust settled, K-State had humiliated the Mountaineers on their own field, 55-14.

Stud: Collin Klein, QB, Kansas State

Not only did Collin Klein and his teammates demolish yet another ranked opponent, but Klein has the best nickname in college football: Optimus Klein.

He torched West Virginia's admittedly porous defense for over 300 yards passing—the first time he has reached that plateau in his career.

But he also found his way into the end zone on the ground four times, increasing his touchdown total on the day to seven.

Why is there not more Heisman love for this man?

Dud: Zach Mettenberger, QB, LSU

Yes, LSU won the game.

But the ineptitude of Mettenberger in particular and the entire offense in general was on display.

Mettenberger was absolutely brutal, completing just 11-of-29 attempts and averaging only 3.3 yards per passing attempt.

He routinely overthrew open receivers and even his lone touchdown pass was overthrown, but Kadron Boone came up with the athletic catch.

If Mettenberger is the best quarterback LSU can field, there are some serious issues on the way for this team against the meat of the SEC schedule.