All aboard: The Saquon Barkley and Notre Dame trains are just getting started
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FINAL THOUGHTS FROM WEEK 8
Texas fans need to chill. The Longhorns lost in heartbreaking fashion once again, and their fans weren't happy about it. Some even went to great lengths to rant about the coaching staff, calling out Tom Herman for not winning games and that "moral victories" aren't important. This is what college football has become: a win-now atmosphere that provides tremendous pressure. Herman's early success at Houston gave Texas fans the impression that they were going to win immediately. That is starting to go against him with Texas' struggles. Fans need to realize that not every team is going to have instant success just by hiring a new coach. Coming from a guy who's still waiting for any major success to get to his program, I understand the impatience. Especially at Texas. In the meantime, relax for five seconds.
The Pac-12 is in danger of being left out of the playoff. Every team in the conference has a loss, and only two have just one loss. They're the only Power 5 conference that doesn't have an undefeated team left, and that fact might be a major contributing factor leading to their exclusion from the College Football Playoff. That doesn't mean that a team doesn't deserve to get in, but it will be extremely hard to do so if a team from the other four Power 5 conferences remains undefeated. No need to stress yet, Pac-12 fans. Miami is the undefeated team in the ACC and TCU still has a tough remaining Big 12 schedule. Penn State's also in the middle of a brutal three game stretch which will be hard to escape undefeated.
Stanford's loss to San Diego State gets stranger. The Aztecs just lost to Fresno State late Saturday night 27-3. It's probably the fact that it was early in the season, but that loss continues to haunt the Cardinal. Even the blowout win to USC is starting to look worse with the Trojans struggling. San Diego State is now 6-2, which isn't bad, but the Aztecs have looked awful the last two weeks.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
TJ Carter, CB, Memphis- While he did allow a touchdown to Houston late in the game, the freshman straight balled out Thursday night. Carter had 14 tackles, but also forced a fumble and picked off a pass in the clutch to help the Tigers seal the win.
Austin Paulhus, LB; Asauni Rufus, S, Nevada- With a high scoring game, which gave these two plenty of opportunities to make stops. Rufus had a career and team high 24 tackles against Air Force and Paulhus also established his career high with 21 tackles.
Carl Granderson, DE, Wyoming- The Cowboys may have lost, but it wasn't because of the junior defensive end. Granderson totaled 12 tackles with two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss.
Josh Adams, RB, Notre Dame- A big matchup against USC brought out the best in Adams and the Irish on Saturday. Notre Dame's big back rushed for 191 yards and three touchdowns against a Trojans team that couldn't find answers on either side of the ball.
GAMES OF THE WEK
This score was the score that many were anticipating last year, but obviously didn't get. The wow factor wasn't there, but at least Louisville's star player still showed up.
Lamar Jackson only threw for 156 yards, but finished with 178 yards rushing with a touchdown. Jackson continued to dominate the Seminoles defense, and added this run to his resume.
Jackson had his team up 28-14, but a nice comeback by Florida State tied the game up at 28. Louisville would march down the field to set up a game-winning field goal attempt by Blanton Creque. The left-footed kicker missed the kick, but a timeout was called by Jimbo Fisher. Creque's next kick sailed through the uprights, and the Cardinals had another win over the Seminoles. Florida State moves to 2-4, which is alarming, and their fans let Fisher hear it after the game.
Navy did everything they could to keep this game close, but the Knights offensive firepower was too much. Throw in the loss of their quarterback, and the Midshipmen didn't have enough to keep up.
Big plays were the dagger for Navy's defense in the end, as they sustained their second consecutive loss. They will need some help if they want to return to the AAC Championship game, and Memphis has a stronghold on the division lead. They lost quarterback Zach Abey late in the game, and Garrett Lewis took over. Abey rushed for 126 yards, giving him his eighth consecutive 100 yard rushing performance. He's a key in their offense, and will be missed if he's out for an extended period of time.
UCF continues their path to an undefeated season, and all signs are pointing to a showdown with potentially undefeated USF. The winner of that game figures to determine who gets in from the East in the AAC Championship game. Big plays were the key in the win, and Adrian Killins had another big game. Killins broke off a 79 yard touchdown run, one of his two scores on the day, on his way to 122 yards. It seems as if the Knights have so many weapons, they continue to take turns having breakout games. That's not a bad problem to have.
You knew the game was over after the first Penn State offensive possession. Saquon Barkley took a direct snap with Trace McSorley lined up as the running back and took it 69 yards to the house. Ok, so it wasn't over then, but Barkley and McSorley were unstoppable all night, accounting for all of the Nittany Lions touchdowns.
Here's how the game started for Barkley.
And here's (essentially) how it ended.
Michigan goes back to the drawing board offensively, as that unit couldn't produce enough to keep up. The defense was torched by an offense for the first time this season, and it was bad. Keep in mind this defense is returning just one starter, and they can't win games by themselves.
Is Sam Darnold a first round pick? His 2017 campaign isn't telling us that at all. USC was down 28-0 before Darnold or the Trojans could even wake up, and the defense couldn't make a stop even when the offense showed some life. Darnold threw another pick and lost a fumble, and USC has quickly gone from CFP contender to being on the outside looking in.
Notre Dame is proving to be a dangerous team, and their one loss is to undefeated Georgia by a single point. The Irish have erased any memory of 2016, and Brian Kelly's squad dominated their ranked matchup on Saturday. The Brandon Wimbush-Josh Adams combination in the backfield becomes more dangerous with experience, and Kelly's defense is playing at a high level as well. His hire of Mike Elko as defensive coordinator and Chip Long as offensive coordinator might be two of the best hires in college football.
