Five Things Feeding My Soul: Week 8 – Texas Finds Its Swagger, No. 2 BYU Falls and Miami Means Business
Texas bounces back, the Big 12 race is thrown wide open, Indiana makes history and Miami cements its place at No. 1.
Chaos appears to be the new norm in college football. The weeks leading up to this mid-point of the season have each featured upsets, contenders falling away and, so far, four different teams occupying the No.1 ranking. College football’s pecking order seems to change every Saturday. It’s fascinating to watch.
In Week 8, the nation’s No. 2 team fell in double overtime, another Big 12 heavyweight stumbled, and two of the Big Ten’s biggest names suffered damaging defeats.
Meanwhile, Texas rediscovered its attacking flair, Indiana demonstrated the resilience of a champion, and Miami delivered the sort of performance worthy of a number one ranked team.
Here’s what fed my soul in Week 8.
1. Texas finally clicks on offense, sees off No. 7 Ole Miss
No. 19 Texas 34, No. 7 Ole Miss 27
For thirty minutes in Austin, this was the Texas team we’d been waiting to see all season.
The atmosphere was deafening, the defense was suffocating, and Arch Manning finally looked like the quarterback capable of justifying those enormous expectations.
After converting a third-and-17 with his legs, Manning unleashed a magnificent 50-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Wingo. Texas led 24-3 at halftime, with Will Muschamp's defense having largely neutralised Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy.
Game over, surely? Not quite.
Having already suffered painful second-half collapses this season, Texas looked dangerously close to another.
A Manning fumble gifted Ole Miss a touchdown, Texas racked up penalty after penalty, and two touchdown receptions from Horatio Fields helped Trinidad Chambliss drag the Rebels level at 24-24 early in the fourth quarter.
This time, the Longhorns responded.
Raleek Brown, who finished with 157 rushing yards, helped establish the running game before Manning fooled the Ole Miss defense and jogged into the end zone from a yard out. A late field goal and interception sealed a victory critical to the Longhorns' hopes of making postseason play.
The statistics highlighted both Texas’s potential and its problems: 419 yards of offence, three defensive interceptions and Lacy restricted to just 36 rushing yards. The Longhorns also conceded 14 penalties for 134 yards and three turnovers.
Texas has the talent and arguably now a quarterback to compete with anyone. It was oddly symbolic that against a team once fielding his grandfather Archie and uncle Eli at quarterback, Arch Manning demonstrated his promise.
If he can continue to show his considerable potential and his Longhorns eliminate their self-inflicted mistakes, the young quarterback and his team could yet become a force to be reckoned with at the business end of the season. I hope they are.
For those of us watching from this side of the Atlantic, these are the games and the weekends that make staying up until ridiculous hours worthwhile.
2. The Big 12 turns on its head, and Utah takes advantage
UCF 39, No. 2 BYU 31 (2OT)
Cincinnati 37, No. 8 Texas Tech 24
No. 10 Utah 21, No. 14 Houston 13
Two of the biggest upsets of the weekend came in one of the most competitive conferences in college football. If anyone needed reminding that rankings are under threat in every single weekend of college football, the Big 12 provided three compelling examples.
No.8 Texas Tech’s championship ambitions suffered a significant blow with a 37-24 defeat at Cincinnati.
Meanwhile, BYU arrived in Orlando unbeaten and ranked second nationally. They departed having suffered a stunning 39-31 double-overtime defeat to UCF. Knights quarterback Keyone Jenkins threw three touchdown passes as the Knights produced one of the season’s biggest upsets.
Waiting in the wings were Utah. The Utes overcame a stubborn No.14 Houston team, trailing 13-7 entering the fourth quarter before quarterback Devon Dampier helped inspire a 21-13 comeback victory.
Dampier contributed more than 350 total yards of offense and ran in two touchdowns as Utah preserved its unbeaten record. Critically, this leaves Utah at 4-0 in conference play, with BYU and Texas Tech both slipping to 3-1.
Suddenly, the Big 12 race looks very different, delivering another weekend of spectacular entertainment. Utah might just have emerged as the biggest winner of Week 8.
3. Indiana beats Michigan on the road for the first time in 59 years
No. 6 Indiana 13, Michigan 6 (OT)
Not every championship-winning season involves every weekend with spectacular touchdowns and forty points on the scoreboard.
On the back of a first defeat in 22 games, at the hands of Ohio State, Indiana travelled to Michigan Stadium, were dragged into an defensive struggle, and found a way to win.
The defending national champions managed just 212 yards of offence, with quarterback Josh Hoover throwing for just 81 yards. Hoover’s four-yard touchdown run in overtime, did however, secure Indiana’s first victory at Michigan since 1967.
I've mentioned it numerous times but for a program that spent decades struggling against the Big Ten’s established powers, the continuing transformation under Curt Cignetti remains extraordinary.
Indiana is now 8-1 in games decided by less than one touchdown under Cignetti and has won eight consecutive road games. Two years ago, an Indiana victory at Michigan would have been celebrated as one of the shocks of the season.
Now it’s almost expected.
4. Are Oregon and USC out of Playoff contention?
Illinois 21, Oregon 10
Wisconsin 24, No. 16 USC 7
When former Pac-12 giants Oregon and USC joined the Big Ten, there was real excitement about the arrival of two national powerhouses. USC in particular have learned that reputations don’t win football games, while the wheels seem to have come off Oregon this season.
The Ducks suffered another damaging defeat, losing 21-10 at Illinois, while USC managed just seven points in a miserable 24-7 defeat at Wisconsin.
For two programs with enormous resources, elite recruiting operations and genuine national ambitions, these results raise uncomfortable questions.
The contrast with Indiana’s remarkable rise is particularly striking. While the Hoosiers continue to demonstrate their championship credentials, two of college football’s most visible brands are struggling for form.
With November approaching, their opportunities to recover are becoming increasingly limited.
5. No. 1 Miami impresses as UCLA looks unrecognisable
No. 1 Miami 52, Pittsburgh 23
No. 9 UCLA 28, Michigan State 10
For the first time since the 2002 season, Miami took the field as the nation’s top-ranked team. Judging by their performance on Saturday, the Hurricanes are entirely comfortable wearing the No.1 ranking.
Miami dismantled Pittsburgh 52-23, producing a performance full of attacking flair that would have delighted the members of its legendary 2001 national championship team watching from the stands.
Quarterback Darian Mensah completed an extraordinary 31 of 37 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns. The star of the show, however, was Malachi Toney.
The sophomore receiver delivered a sensational performance, catching a school-record 16 passes for 194 yards and three touchdowns. Remarkably, Toney had 159 receiving yards at halftime, matching Pittsburgh’s entire offensive output through the first two quarters.
Miami scored on seven of its opening eight possessions, accumulating 506 yards of total offense.
There’s something nicely nostalgic about seeing Miami returning to the top of the college football pile again. Those iconic uniforms, see their last championship-winning team, the swagger reminiscent of "The U" under Jimmy Johnson, the explosive playmakers like Michael Irvin. Could the Hurricanes finally be ready to recapture the glory days?
Moving from East Coast to West, UCLA quietly improved to an impressive 7-0 with a convincing 28-10 victory over Michigan State. The Bruins might not be attracting Miami’s headlines, but the Bruins' unbeaten record is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Miami genuinely looks every inch a national championship contender, and Toney is rapidly becoming one of college football’s must-watch players. But don’t sleep on UCLA.
Final thoughts
Texas found a way to survive, the Big 12 turned itself upside down, Indiana made history and Miami delivered a statement performance.
The College Football Playoff picture is beginning to take shape, but the list of teams capable of navigating the coming weeks without a damaging defeat suddenly looks considerably shorter. As we have seen all season, college football rarely follows the script.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
What fed your soul in Week 8? Was it Texas finding a way past Ole Miss, UCF’s stunning upset of BYU, or Malachi Toney’s sensational performance? Let me know in the comments.
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