Winners and losers of Week 8 college football led by Georgia, Alabama

In retrospect, there was something unconvincing about the way Texas rattled off six wins in a row and was ranked No. 1 in the LBM USA Coaches Poll.

The best win during the unbeaten start probably came in the opener against No. 22 Michigan. The Wolverines have since added two more losses, including Saturday against No. 21 Illinois. Next could be Oklahoma, which also has three losses.

#4 Georgia showed the difference between climbing to #1 and staying there. The Bulldogs took a 23-0 halftime lead and held on for a 30-15 victory that would shake up the coaches’ poll and leave the SEC without at least one undefeated team in November for the first time since 2007.

The win shows that Georgia could very well be the best team in the Bowl division despite last month’s loss to Alabama. For Texas, the loss is a brutal reminder of how difficult life will be in the SEC.

That the Longhorns played better in the second half is a minor victory given the hype surrounding one of the regular season’s marquee games. For much of the final two quarters, Texas was able to establish a pace and energy that temporarily staggered Georgia.

The Bulldogs’ reaction speaks volumes. After Texas made it 23-15, Georgia drove 89 yards, capped by a short touchdown, to put the Longhorns back in a two-possession hole.

While neither team was perfect (Georgia quarterback Carson Beck threw three more interceptions, giving him eight in his last four games), the Longhorns’ failure to capitalize on early opportunities set the stage for the Bulldogs’ insurmountable lead.

Perhaps this will help Texas look at this loss as a learning experience. The expanded College Football Playoff makes this loss inevitable in the first place. The two teams could easily meet again to determine the SEC championship.

But it could be a very useful yardstick for a team talented enough to win the program’s first national championship since 2005. Georgia has set the bar. The Longhorns now know how far they still have to go before they are truly considered the No. 1 team in college football.

Georgia, Texas and Alabama top the list of Saturday’s winners and losers:

Winners

Indiana

The question of whether No. 18 Indiana’s offense would struggle against one of the best defenses in the Power Four was answered during a 21-point outburst in the second quarter of the Hoosiers’ final 56-7 rout of No. 25 Nebraska. It’s a revelation: Despite their offensive struggles, the Cornhuskers entered the weekend ranked first in the Big Ten and sixth in the country in yards allowed per game. Indiana gained 280 passing yards, 215 rushing yards and averaged 7.9 yards per play while committing five turnovers and holding Nebraska to 2.4 yards per carry. There are better teams on the road to a completely unexpected playoff berth, but this win firmly established the Hoosiers as a legitimate contender in the Big Ten.

Kansas

Three games after a stunning loss to No. 13 Brigham Young, the No. 17 Wildcats have reasserted themselves as the team to beat the Big 12. a 45–18 victory in which Avery Johnson had a career-best 298 yards passing. With the ground game kept under wraps (DJ Giddens had 57 yards on 19 carries after 369 yards in the previous two games), Johnson showed the ability to carry this offense in a hostile environment. This is big news for the Wildcats.

Iowa

This could be a special season for the No. 12 Cyclones. Case in point: Iowa State gave up a pair of interception touchdowns to Central Florida, lost 35-30 with less than two minutes and 80 yards left, but somehow managed to win a 38-35 victory thanks to a heroic quarterback save. Rocco Becht. The sophomore starter overcame a bad night by throwing the ball 97 yards and scoring two scores on the ground, including the game-winner from a yard out with 30 seconds left. The win improved ISU to 7-0 for the first time since 1938. You see, this year seems special.

Notre Dame

No. 11 Notre Dame passed a tricky neutral-site test against Georgia Tech with flying colors, winning 31-7 thanks to physical possession on both sides of the line and solid all-around play from quarterback Riley Leonard. That makes it five straight wins for the Fighting Irish, four wins over Power Four competition, and allows the Irish to overcome an earlier loss to Northern Illinois and earn a big playoff bid. But tougher games are coming, including matches against Navy, No. 24 Army and Southern California.

Cincinnati

After a dismal three-win debut under coach Scott Satterfield, the Bearcats made another sweet statement with a 24-14 win over Arizona State. The game was won in the first half, with Cincinnati trailing 7-0 on the Sun Devils’ first possession but going on a 24-0 run before halftime, capped by a 55-yard touchdown run by Evan Pryor to make it 17-7 early in the second quarter. Playing with backup quarterback Jeff Sims in place of the injured Sam Leavitt, Arizona State held to 346 yards.

Cam Ward

No. 6 Miami continues to come away with close wins — a 52-45 win over Louisville was the Hurricanes’ third straight one-possession win — and Ward continues to put up Heisman Trophy-worthy numbers. After throwing three interceptions in wins over Virginia Tech and California, the senior stayed clean against the Cardinals, completing 21 of 32 throws for 319 yards and four touchdowns while adding 29 yards on the ground. The former Word Incarnate and Washington State transfer continues to lead the Big Four with 27 total points.

Losers

Alabama

October can’t end soon enough for Kalen DeBoer and No. 7 Alabama. Vanderbilt was defeated. A narrow win last week over South Carolina. And on Saturday, a 24-17 loss to No. 10 Tennessee could end the Crimson Tide’s hopes of playing in the SEC championship game and making the playoffs. This is not the same offensive force that appeared in September. The Tide managed just 64 yards against Tennessee’s talented defense, while quarterback Jalen Milroe threw a pair of interceptions, including one in the final minutes that sealed the Volunteers’ victory. It’s worth thinking about how much worse it could have been. Alabama nearly pulled off a blowout win over Georgia in late September and was almost lucky to avoid the Gamecocks. Two losses could easily turn into four.

Michigan

The No. 22 Wolverines’ already slim playoff hopes would not survive a 21-7 loss to No. 21 Illinois, summing up the fatal flaw of the reigning national champions – an inept offense that shuffled three quarterbacks with empty results. The third, Jack Tuttle, went 20 of 32 for 208 yards and an interception in losing his second straight start. It destroyed a strong performance from a defense that rebounded from a loss to Washington last time out and limited the Illini to 267 yards. There has been so much turnover since last season that the comparison is a little unfair, but still: Michigan’s three losses in seven games under new coach Sherron Moore are in line with the program’s total over the previous three seasons. Ultimately, you can attribute this year’s slump to a failure to attract a starting-caliber quarterback, which is inexcusable.

Southern California

USC can’t do anything right. Leading Maryland 28–14 after Miller Moss’ touchdown early in the fourth quarter, the Trojans allowed the Terrapins to go on a 15–0 run, including the game-winning score with less than a minute left, and lost 29–28. After third-ranked Penn State went into overtime in last week’s 33-30 upset, this loss represents a huge setback that once again highlights how inconsistent and unreliable the program has been under Lincoln Riley. Here’s one way to measure this season’s misfortune: USC sits second from bottom in the Big Ten standings at 1-4 in conference play, tied with UCLA and ahead of only Purdue.

Oklahoma

The results continue to show a large gap separating Oklahoma from the top half of the SEC while raising some serious concerns about the state of Brent Venables’ program. After barely sniffing Texas in last week’s loss, the Sooners were never competitive in a 35-9 home loss to South Carolina. Now 4-3, OU will need to commit at least one turnover just to secure a bowl game. While the fifth win comes on Nov. 2 over Maine, the Sooners’ remaining four games will come against No. 15 Mississippi, No. 16 Missouri, No. 7 Alabama and No. 8 LSU, with only the Crimson Tide coming to Norman.

Auburn

Like Bryan Harsin before him, Hugh Freeze went 6-7 and reached lower-level bowl play in his freshman year. Like Harsin, Freese’s second team will enter the home stretch of the regular season with a chance to reach a bowl game. One difference: Harsin was fired before finishing his second year with the Tigers, who went 3-5. Another difference: Harsin’s second team actually beat Missouri. After gaining control with a 17–3 lead about midway through the third quarter, Auburn allowed Missouri to march 95 yards on 17 plays in the final minutes and lost 21–17, falling to 2–5 and remaining winless in the SEC. There are no positives here, no silver lining, no moral victories, and no reason to believe in the current state of the program.

Air Force

This season is shaping up to be an unprecedented disaster for a program that has historically been one of the most consistent in the Group of Five. First, Air Force is now 1-6 after a 21-13 loss to Colorado State, with one win coming against Merrimack in the season opener. Only once since coach Troy Calhoun took over in 2007 have the Falcons won fewer than five games in an unabridged season. The decline comes amid hot starts from Army and Navy academies, which are a combined 13-0 after Saturday’s wins over East Carolina and Charlotte, respectively.

(This story has been updated to replace the video.)