Last week it was a matter of survival for Alabama and they got it done. This week, the Tide finally came up short in the rivalry to the Volunteers as the entire state of Tennessee is still in a complete state of euphoria. You talk about a stadium having one giant release of joy and happiness, college football doesn’t get much better that what we saw in Knoxville on Saturday.
We’re heading towards week 8 and now only 9 teams from the Power 5 conferences remain undefeated and if my math is correct we’ll have 3 games between these remaining unbeatens, including one this upcoming weekend.
Now, to our latest poll.
18 Stripes Top 20 Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tennessee (+4) | 6-0 | 52-49 W vs. Alabama |
| 2 | Ohio State (-1) | 6-0 | BYE |
| 3 | Georgia | 7-0 | 55-0 W vs. Vanderbilt |
| 4 | Clemson | 7-0 | 34-28 W at Florida State |
| 5 | Michigan (+2) | 7-0 | 41-17 W vs. Penn State |
| 6 | TCU (+6) | 6-0 | 43-40 W vs. Oklahoma State |
| 7 | UCLA (+4) | 6-0 | BYE |
| 8 | Ole Miss (+2) | 7-0 | 48-34 W vs. Auburn |
| 9 | Alabama (-7) | 6-1 | 52-49 L at Tennessee |
| 10 | Oregon (+3) | 5-1 | BYE |
| 11 | Syracuse (+4) | 6-0 | 24-9 W vs. NC State |
| 12 | Wake Forest (+2) | 5-1 | BYE |
| 13 | USC (-7) | 6-1 | 43-42 L at Utah |
| 14 | Oklahoma State (-6) | 5-1 | 43-40 L at TCU |
| 15 | Cincinnati (+1) | 5-1 | BYE |
| 16 | Utah (NR) | 5-2 | 43-42 W vs. USC |
| 17 | Illinois (NR) | 6-1 | 26-14 W vs. Minnesota |
| 18 | Penn State (-9) | 5-1 | 41-17 L at Michigan |
| 19 | Texas (NR) | 5-2 | 24-21 W vs. Iowa State |
| 20 | Kansas State (NR) | 5-1 | BYE |
National Storylines
Baylor have now lost 3 out of their last 5 and 2 in a row following a Thursday night defeat at West Virginia. The Bears totaled 590 yards of offense but were -3 in turnovers.
I’m very pleased to welcome Illinois to the rankings! They’re coming off a very thorough (+292 total yards!) performance in a win over Minnesota and currently sit atop the Big Ten West standings.
TCU trailed Oklahoma State 24-7 in the 2nd quarter and it looked like the Cowboys were about to take firm control of the Big 12 this weekend. I lost track of this game and somehow the Frogs came back in double overtime to win 43-40. Sonny Dykes DGT!
Penn State had some wonkiness occur in Ann Arbor resulting in them leading 17-16 early in the 2nd half. Of course, quarterback Sean Clifford was injured as he seemingly gets every game and Michigan ended up dominating in an easy 41-17 victory.
Coastal Carolina dropped their first game of the season 49-21 to Old Dominion, at home in Myrtle Beach too.
First place in the SEC West belongs solely to Ole Miss following their 48-34 win over Auburn. These teams combined for 749 rushing yards, sheesh!
Absolute pain for Iowa State this weekend as they were driving down 3 against Texas and suffered one of the worst drops in college football this year. That was followed up by a redemptive 20-yard catch by the same receiver to get into field goal range. Only for the ISU quarterback to be drilled on the next play in an obvious targeting penalty, plus his knee was down, but he fumbled and the officials didn’t call targeting and gave the ball to Texas too.
The fun is probably over for Kansas as quarterback Jalon Daniels isn’t expected back this season. But, the Jayhawks did put up 42 points against that stinky Oklahoma defense. Unfortunately, the Sooners put up 701 yards and 52 points of their own.
Miami’s 3-game losing streak is over. The Canes go into Blacksburg and win 20-14. The Brent Pry era isn’t go so hot for the Hokies so far, they sink down to 2-5.
Oh my, what a game between Tennessee and Alabama. I shouldn’t be shocked but I am a little bit surprised that the Vols didn’t get more love for no. 1 in the AP Poll with only 15 first place votes compared to Ohio State (17) and Georgia (31).
What a performance by Hendon Hooker, Josh Heupel and the Tennessee offense scoring 52 points (the most allowed by Alabama since 1907!) as the Tide become the first team in college football history to be ranked in the top 3, score at least 49 points, and lose. Shout out to Vols receiver Jalin Hyatt putting on an absolute clinic with 6 receptions, 207 yards, and 5 touchdowns!
The good vibes in the interim (soon to be full-time wink, wink) Jim Leonhard era ceased immediately after Wisconsin fumbled in overtime and lost 34-28 to Michigan State. The Badgers now sit in last place in the Big Ten West.
Brian Kelly and LSU are hanging around near the top of the SEC West following a 45-35 win at the Swamp. It’s time for Kelly to get into the meat of his SEC West schedule now.
OUT:
No. 17 Mississippi State
The Bulldogs went absolutely wild while piling up 7 running back carries for 30 yards but somehow can’t overcome Kentucky in a 27-17 loss.
No. 18 NC State
Quarterback Jack Chambers transferred to NC State from Charleston Southern this off-season and started in place of the injured Devin Leary on Saturday. The Wolfpack only gained 255 yards in a loss to Syracuse.
No. 19 James Madison
In a game that featured a combined 5 receivers gaining at least 100 yards, JMU falls in Statesboro to Georgia Southern thanks to 4 turnovers.
No. 20 Minnesota
Mohamed Ibrahim returned to the lineup and ran for 127 yards yards on 15 carries. However, the Gophers throw for (checks notes) 38 yards on 18 attempts (quarterback Tanner Morgan was injured but not until the 4th quarter) in a 26-14 loss to Illinois.
Opponent Watch
Ohio State (6-0): The Buckeyes were off this week and host Iowa on Saturday.
Marshall (3-3): The slide continues for the Herd as they lost by 10 to Louisiana-Lafayette last Wednesday.
California (3-3): It doesn’t get much lower in the Pac-12 than losing to Colorado with an interim head coach. Mike Sanford, Jr. is undefeated as a Power 5 head football coach!
North Carolina (6-1): A late interception prevented a big Duke rally as the Tar Heels held on 38-35 on the road in Durham.
BYU (4-3): Arkansas walked into Provo this weekend and after a slow start totaled 644 total yards in a very comfortable 52-35 win over BYU.
Stanford (2-4): PAIN.
UNLV (4-3): Starting quarterback Doug Brumfield was out again as UNLV’s offense cratered for just 179 yards in a 42-7 blowout loss against visiting Air Force.
Syracuse (6-0): The Orange just missed out on a top 10 ranking this week after beating short-manned NC State as they prepare to travel to undefeated Clemson.
Clemson (7-0): Florida State led early and finished with 10 more first downs than Clemson. However, the Tigers remained unbeaten with a 34-28 win in Tallahassee.
Navy (2-4): The offense was back doing some damage for Navy as they totaled 510 yards and 32 first downs against SMU. Yet, a couple bad turnovers sank the Middies in a 40-34 loss Friday night in Dallas.
Boston College (2-4): The Eagles were off this week and travel to Wake Forest on Saturday.
USC (6-1): A wild back-and-forth affair in Salt Lake City saw Utah outlast the Trojans 43-42 after Utes quarterback ran for a touchdown on 4th down and also ran in the 2-point conversion for the victory. The teams combined for over 1,100 yards of offense.
Utah wore special hand-painted helmets to honor former players Aaron Lowe and Ty Jordan who died in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Week 8 Games to Watch
Now featuring dates, channels, and times eastern!
Iowa (+29) at Ohio State
Saturday, Fox, Noon
How many turnovers from Ohio State would it take for Iowa to score enough points and win this game? There’d also have to be a blocked field goal or punt taken back for a touchdown. There are no other ways.
UT-Martin (OFF) at Tennessee
Saturday, SEC Network, Noon
Included this week because this is the most hangover/let down sandwich game in Tennessee history and the Skyhawks (had to look that up) might have a lead into halftime. It’s even a Noon start, watch out Vols!
Syracuse (+13.5) at Clemson
Saturday, ABC, Noon
This is all that stands in between Clemson and coming to Notre Dame undefeated. We also have our game with Syracuse on a 6-day hold pending their own undefeated resume. If the Orange win we’ll be at 3:30 PM ET, if Syracuse lose let’s get ready for a Noon kickoff in upstate New York, baby.
Ole Miss (PK) at LSU
Saturday, CBS, 3:30 PM
You could argue we’re not talking about Lane Kiffin enough right now. Although, in his defense the Rebs have been consistently good enough lately that it’s not a huge surprise how high they’re ranked. This starts a really tough stretch to finish the season for Ole Miss. Brian Kelly gets this, a bye, then Alabama.
UCLA (+6) at Oregon
Saturday, Fox, 3:30 PM
The ESPN GameDay location of the week has a top 10 matchup in the Pac-12. Is this the game where Chip Kelly officially is Back™ on the college football scene? He’s been lingering in mediocrity for 3 seasons with the Bruins and gets a chance to beat his former program on a huge national stage. The Ducks have been lingering themselves in the middle of the rankings and have a great chance to move back up into the spotlight with that blowout loss to Georgia a distant memory now.
Texas (-6) at Oklahoma State
Saturday, ABC, 3:30 PM
This line is moving in favor of Texas and I’m convinced they are going to come back and make a run for the Big 12 title. Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders was apparently banged up heading into last week, so that’s worth monitoring.
Memphis (+7) at Tulane
Saturday, ESPN2, 3:30 PM
TULANE IS RANKED IN THE AP POLL. What a great job by Willie Fritz in his 6th season in New Orleans. I don’t want to jinx anything but Tulane and Cincinnati could both be unbeaten in league play when they conclude the regular season in a matchup against each other. We need it.
Mississippi State (+21) at Alabama
Saturday, ESPN, 7:00 PM
Angry Alabama is something you want no part of in this life. Prepare for pain, Bulldogs. Although, a skeptic may say Will Rogers could absolutely go off against this seemingly wounded and susceptible Alabama secondary.
Kansas State (+3.5) at TCU
Saturday, Fox, 8:00 PM
Yes, the 2 remaining undefeated (in league play) Big 12 teams in mid-October just like we all predicted. Kansas State’s offense has really bogged down a couple times this year, like only 10 points against Tulane. But, Tulane is ranked now and that’s a quality loss!
You see, we go INSIDE the helmet and put a helmet there. Helmetception.
I thought that was a big, giant puff of cigar smoke released.
So the three points that Tennessee beat Alabama by (after leading by 18 at one point!) allows 7 teams to be ranked between the two? Tennessee is good, but I don’t think they are 7 teams better than Alabama.
I think my top 10 would look like this:
Georgia – #1 until they lose.
Ohio St
Tennessee
Alabama
Clemson
TCU
Michigan
Ole Miss
UCLA
USC
I couldn’t in good conscience drop Bama just 2 spots and still feel like the regular season mattered enough. And I’m very pro-playoff!
Why is Clemson ranked so high?
What is the definition of ‘so high’ in this context?
I guess 4 vs like 6. So maybe not really a big deal, just feels like they haven’t been particularly impressive this year. But then looking at what UM, TCU, and Ole Miss have actually done isn’t particularly impressive either, and 4 is probably fair for Clemson.
Yeah, a few of those teams are just hanging around.
I really thought with 9 undefeated teams there would be some more with pretty dominant results so far, given most teams have played like 1 ranked opponent at this point. Oh, well.
I am pro playoff to and results should matter, but in my heart of hearts, on a neutral field, Alabama probably wins that game 7 times out of 10 and is probably a 50/50 in Neyland. Georgia v Tennessee will settle who plays Bama in the SEC championship game, so in the end, the best SEC team is in the playoff (and if a 2nd SEC team makes the playoffs, then arguable if it is the second best SEC team). Come the final seeding for the playoffs, there may be some arguments about 3 and 4, but 1 and 2 will probably be pretty solid.
Ultimately, the CFB powers that are undefeated are in the top 10 until proven otherwise. Clemson hasn’t looked great, but Uiagalelei has been improving. Syracuse still has to prove they belong in the elite, but if they beat Clemson on the 22nd, they jump up to number 7 at a minimum and possibly higher depending on other results from the weekend.
We’d probably beat Stanford 7 out of 10 times, too.
Chip Kelly finally has the team he wants. He’ll return to Autzen and get some love from the Duck fans. Statistically, these teams are so similar.
(Ranks nationally)
Oregon – F+ 1.19, OF+ 1.71 (Rk 7), DF+ 0.38 (Rk 52), FEI 0.5 (Rk 20), SP+ 18.5(Rk 9)
UCLA – F+ 1.19, OF+ 1.72 (Rk 6), DF+ 0.45 (Rk 45), FEI 0.45 (Rk 24), SP+ 19.6+ (Rk 8)
The raw numbers are similar. Total offenses against FBS teams (each 5 games).
Oregon – 2471yds, 494.2 yds per game, 7.06 yds/play
UCLA – 2549 yds, 509.8 yds/game, 7.18 yds/play
(Also against FBS teams)
UCLA’s Dorian Thompson averages 328 total yds/game
Oregon’s Bo Nix averages 312 total yards/game
Rain is in the forecast and is finally coming to the Northwest, beginning Friday. (Eugene has gotten <0.5 inches since June 19th).
Remember that one time, we were going to pummel Stanford, and then get ranked inside the top 25 again? I remember that like it was last week.
Though at first I thought for sure it was, no targeting was the correct call in the ISU-Tx. game (shoulder to shoulder) and the call on the field was a fumble, so I think it was too close to overturn. I was hoping ISU was going to pull that out.
Man, I don’t know.
I think this checks every definition of targeting.
*Forcible contact with the crown of the helmet
*Forcible contact to the head or neck area (he gets both, plus shoulder)
*Lowering and leading with the helmet
That is such an unnatural and dangerous way to make a tackle.
Play in question runs from 22:45 to 23:20 in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gqXqlBTZjU
*Forcible contact to the head or neck area
I think this is where the argument probably lies. Tx man did lead with the crown, however it looks like his facemask hits the ISU player shoulder. Plus you got the first Tx player tackling from the opposite side moving the runner into the path of the tx player that targeting would be called on. So that may make the contact to the head/neck area incidental. However, considering the targeting call against Bertrand in the UNC game. This would be targeting to.
If I read the rules correctly, you only need to check 1 indicator of targeting for it to be called a penalty. And my dude DEF checks off a couple, either way.
From the other side it’s quite obvious he hit him in the shoulder pads.
Ugh…Can’t print it.
His head snaps to the right. It’s clear to me there’s contact to the head, neck, and shoulder.
Still meets other criteria for targeting, too.
I guess Article 4 does state, ‘when in question, it is a foul’. And there is plenty of question around this.
There’s also this, right after spearing and injuring a player for good measure:
Anyone getting hit in the left shoulder that hard would have his head “snap” (move) to the right. But, that’s no foul. Clear contact to head and neck? Nope, the opposite actually. It also looks like he’s trying not to hit him with his helmet by rising up as he hits him. That’s why you can see the QB’s helmet hit the tackler in the chest.
Oh, yes. CLEARLY. Great form tackle.
Some more info to digest:
Two things:
I believe Peacock will have the replay up within 24 hours, if not immediately.
You would think we would be able to incorporate Merriwether much more. Even if it is like Golden Tate his freshman year… All the Fly routes.
OK thanks. Never really use Peacock except for this week so I wasn’t sure.
Totally agree with Merriweather at least being used similar to Tate. He really ran a great route on his TD so it seems he may be capable of a more complex route tree than just the fly route but I guess we may never know.
I do believe Peacock puts it up quickly, within 1-2 hours.
I’m hoping so, too. My plan is to watch it while waiting at Burbank Airport on Saturday night.
Dasan McCullough is killing it at IU. Deland must be proud.
What are the chances we get three 1 loss SEC teams in the playoff? Tennessee loses close to Georgia, Georgia loses close to Bama in SEC title game being the scenario making that a possibility. Or does that possibly leave the SEC with only one team making the playoff?
Undefeated Big 12, Undefeated BIG, and Undefeated PAC would all probably enter above 1-loss SEC other than the conference champ. No Independents or Group of 5 have a chance of cracking the playoffs this year. I think we end up with two SEC teams just about no matter what and I think three is an outside possibility. Ole Miss could be in the discussion as well, they have A&M and Bama still left on their schedule as the toughest two games. Still a little to early to make any accurate conjectures.
Let’s make it 4 SEC teams with a 1-loss Ole Miss. Is this possible?
I think the 12 team playoff would be in place next year if that were to happen. However I think the winner of the Michigan – tOSU game is almost assured a spot. Unless Illinois can beat MI in the regular season and tOSU in the championship. Then we have a 1 loss Illinois team in the CFP, with Wisconsin wondering why they didn’t pay Bielema’s assistants more.
My wish is for Georgia, Syracuse, UCLA and TCU. Rose Bowl – Ohio State and USC and some other bowls trickle down. Sugar – Tennessee and Clemson, etc.