The absolute chaos that characterized Week 7 of the college football season is unlikely to be topped in 2022, but Week 8 served as a worthy follow-up.
Once again, we saw some major shakeups at the top of the sport. Three Power Five teams that entered the weekend undefeated now have a blemish on their resumes. With only six teams remaining unbeaten heading into Week 9 and the initial College Football Playoff rankings a week away from being released, the postseason picture continues to get clearer.
As we always do at the conclusion of a weekend chock-full of college football action, let’s take a look at the winners and losers from Week 8.
Winner: Dabo Swinney and Clemson doing what was necessary
Heading into the year, the biggest storyline surrounding the Tigers had to do with the quarterback spot. With five-star quarterback Cade Klubnik coming in, could we see a repeat of the Trevor Lawrence situation, given DJ Uiagalelei’s struggles in 2021?
In recent weeks, the answer seemed to be trending toward a definitive “no.” Uiagalelei had been taking care of the football and was starting to look like the elite prospect he was billed as coming out of high school. With CFP hopes potentially at stake against unbeaten Syracuse, though, Uiagalelei struggled.
He threw two interceptions in this game, and the Tigers were heading for a loss. It was clear coach Dabo Swinney needed to do something.
Swinney ultimately made the call many expected to see at some point this season, benching Uiagalelei for Klubnik. The true freshman wasn’t asked to do a lot, but he made some plays with his legs and guided the Tigers to a comeback win.
After the game, Swinney reiterated that Uiagalelei is the team’s starting quarterback moving forward. Whether that’s actually the case remains to be seen, but regardless, Clemson would have a loss right now if Swinney hadn’t made the decision he did.
Loser: A Kansas team that has lost its magic
I don’t want to be too hard on Kansas. The Jayhawks could lose out and it would still be a fantastic season for coach Lance Leipold, given what this team has already accomplished. But it’s clear that KU is not the same without quarterback Jalon Daniels, who has now missed two straight games (both losses).
Kansas was overpowered by a strong Oklahoma offense on the mend last week, but Saturday’s loss to Baylor was pretty frustrating. The Jayhawks had to rally just to bring the final score within two touchdowns as they trailed 28-3 at the half against a Bears team coming off a bad loss to West Virginia.
There are four losable games left on the schedule for Kansas, and after all the fanfare, this is looking more and more like a fringe bowl team. We’ll see if the Jayhawks can flip the script once more when Daniels gets back on the field.
Winner: What rebuilding year for LSU?
It’s a bit surprising to me that more people aren’t paying attention to what’s going on in the Bayou. Whatever pretenses or aspersions you may have about Brian Kelly as a coach or human being, cast them aside — at least momentarily — and strictly look at what this team is doing on the football field.
Because what it’s doing is pretty damn good.
Remember, this is a team that entered last year’s Texas Bowl with just 39 available scholarship players. The roster rebuild Kelly had to undertake in his first offseason was tremendous and practically unprecedented at a blue-blood program.
Now, a ridiculous transfer portal and recruiting haul later, and Kelly’s team sits at 6-2 and 4-1 in SEC play in its first season. It’s currently tied with Alabama for the lead in the SEC West, and a win over the Tide in two weeks would likely lead to a division title.
I’m not saying that’s going to happen, but is it really out of the question?
After beating No. 7 (and previously unbeaten) Ole Miss on Saturday, it might not be. LSU’s offense has come a long way since it was struggling to move the ball on Florida State in Week 1, and quarterback Jayden Daniels is blossoming into a dynamic playmaker. He’s not just sufficient; he’s a bona fide weapon and one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC.
The defense has some holes but adjusts well in-game. It has a lot of new faces that are beginning to gel together, and it will get some pieces back from injury in the coming weeks.
Year 1 has already been an unqualified success in Baton Rouge. The only question that remains is if this team has a New Year’s Six ceiling.
Loser: A potentially maxed-out Ole Miss program
On the flip side, Saturday’s loss was a tough one to swallow for an Ole Miss team that squandered one of its best starts in program history against a previously unranked LSU squad. It’s not exactly a devastating loss, but it’s frustrating, nonetheless.
Coach Lane Kiffin is overachieving in Oxford, that’s not even debatable at this point. The Rebels will always be operating at a talent deficiency when compared to the elite teams in the league, but Kiffin has done a lot to close that gap. He’s also a brilliant schemer and good enough to coach around some of Ole Miss’ shortcomings.
But Saturday’s loss made it clear that this team, like his previous two with quarterback Matt Corral, is not ready to take that next step. The Rebels sit near the top of the FBS in nearly all offensive efficiency ratings, and this defense is likely Kiffin’s best yet.
Still, that wasn’t enough against an LSU team that’s dangerous but shouldn’t have won by that wide a margin. There’s been no shortage of speculation that Kiffin could be looking for the first opportunity to leave Oxford, and losses like Saturday’s certainly feed into the narrative that he has already maxed out this program’s potential.
Winner: A certified Fun Oregon
It’s hard to ignore Oregon’s ugly, 49-3 Week 1 loss to Georgia. I get it, believe me.
But please — for my sake — just look past that for a second and consider only how this team has fared since. Because you can probably count on one hand the number of teams playing better football than the Ducks right now after they dominated UCLA, the lone undefeated team in the Pac-12, to the tune of a 45-30 win.
Perhaps no player in college football benefitted more from a change of scenery this fall than quarterback Bo Nix. This is the year. He has improved so much under this new offense. He’s focused. He’s having fun. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a dark horse for the Heisman.
Except all that is actually true this time. Yeah, maybe even the Heisman bit. Who knows?
He’s been reunited with his former offensive coordinator at Auburn in Kenny Dillingham, and the results have been magical. He’s slinging the ball around on a weekly basis, and he may be playing himself into draft consideration.
Fair or not, the Ducks will probably need some help to be in the CFP discussion at the end of the regular season. Regardless, it’s been a spectacular Year 1 for coach Dan Lanning, who had no previous head coaching experience.
Loser: What's going on in Coral Gables?
Miami knew it had a lot of work to do to bring the program back to prominence when it hired Mario Cristobal. It needs to invest more resources in the football team, it continues to deal with the downsides of an off-campus stadium and it operates at a talent deficit compared to programs like Clemson.
But do I care about any of that? Not really. And neither should you.
After all, the Hurricanes are paying this guy an absurd amount of money, and he has access to the same transfer portal everyone else does. There’s simply no excuse for this team being so bad, even in Year 1.
Saturday’s 45-21 home loss to Duke was embarrassing. Miami turned the ball over eight times and had to suffer this kind of disrespect at the hands of the DUKE FOOTBALL TEAM.
Miami's program may never recover from a Duke football player snapping the 🙌 over his knee: pic.twitter.com/G6vEZF4nbj
— Jim Weber (@JimMWeber) October 23, 2022
UM is 3-4 with an awful loss to Middle Tennessee State, and looking at the remaining schedule — which features matchups against Florida State and Clemson — making a bowl game is far from a guarantee. This team looks worse than it did last year, and there’s just no reason that should be the case.
Cristobal isn’t under that much pressure right now, but he and this program will need to do some soul-searching when this season mercifully ends.
Winner: A South Carolina team that is, in fact, 5-2
Seriously, I promise. Look it up.
I’ll be honest. This Gamecocks team is entirely enigmatic to me. Quarterback Spencer Rattler has not really worked out as he has more interceptions than touchdowns. He was shaky once again Saturday, but it was still enough to guide South Carolina to a win over Texas A&M (I would list the Aggies as a loser, but they could lose their next 20 games and it probably wouldn’t even matter for coach Jimbo Fisher. Thanks, Jimmy Sexton).
The Gamecocks opened SEC play with a pair of tough games against Arkansas and Georgia, but since dropping those, they’ve quietly won four straight, including a top-15 win over Kentucky.
I don’t know what to make of South Carolina and coach Shane Beamer. This thing could spiral down the stretch as it closes the year with games against Florida, Tennessee and Clemson, but regardless, we’re starting to see the progress we hoped we would in Year 2. It just hasn’t come how anyone expected.
Loser: A Texas team that still isn't quite there
You know, it’s a shame that we only seem to be capable of examining Texas through the binary lens of “Back” or “Not Back.” We may need to develop a more lukewarm way to describe this program as this year’s team falls somewhere in the middle.
It’s undoubtedly improved from last year’s disastrous 5-7 finish. The 49-0 win in Red River was one the Longhorns will talk about for a long time. But as good as this team looks at times with its star-studded offense, it just isn’t quite capable of finishing against great teams.
Quinn Ewers had his worst game since returning to the field in the loss to Oklahoma State, which essentially ended Texas’ hopes of competing for the conference title. This year shows measured progress, but not quite as much as we thought was possible.
As unsatisfying as this may be, we’re going to have to remain in “wait and see” mode about this team.
Winner: A TCU team that just will not quit
With every passing week, the Big 12 looks more like TCU’s to lose. The Horned Frogs are the league’s only remaining unbeaten team, and therefore, is also its best hope at representation in the CFP.
We may be getting carried away with talk of the playoff, but that just speaks to how far this program has come in less than a year under coach Sonny Dykes. His team has a fantastic offense led by quarterback Max Duggan, and it fights.
This time, it had to rally from a 28-10 deficit to beat Kansas State on Saturday in what was likely the toughest remaining game on the schedule. The Horned Frogs should be favored the rest of the way and could be the top seed in the Big 12 Championship Game.
Dykes, meanwhile, is in the midst of a potential Coach of the Year campaign.
Loser: Pittsburgh's stark regression to the mean
It’s becoming quite apparent that the 2021 season was an outlier for the Panthers and not an indication of the program taking a step forward under coach Pat Narduzzi.
This team lost quarterback Kenny Pickett to the draft, and the offensive coordinator who developed him in Mark Whipple was chased off to Nebraska due to apparent philosophical disagreements. Now, Narduzzi is paying the piper.
Despite adding an experienced transfer quarterback in Kedon Slovis and getting a breakout campaign from returning running back Israel Abanikanda, things are just not working out in Pittsburgh. It sits at 4-3 on the year and has suffered bad losses against Georgia Tech (led by an interim) and Louisville (possibly soon to make a coaching change) in two of its last three games.
Any remaining hopes of returning to the ACC title game were basically dashed with the loss to the Cardinals on Saturday, and last season looks more anomalous with every game.
Quick Hitters
- Winner: Troy. The Trojans took down a strong South Alabama team to win their fifth straight in the in-state rivalry series. The win gave Troy control of the Sun Belt West, and they could compete in the wide-open conference.
- Loser: Charlotte coach Will Healy. Healy became the latest coach to get fired in 2022 (and first Group of Five coach) after the 49ers’ 1-7 start. This is a young program in a big city with a lot of resources at its disposal, but Healy, 34, was just 15-24 in three seasons (and change).
- Winner: Virginia. Tony Elliott is in the midst of a tough rebuild, but he got his first ACC win on Thursday night against a Georgia Tech team that had won its previous two games.
- Loser: Iowa. The Hawkeyes didn’t score an offensive touchdown or crack the 200-yard mark in a 54-10 loss to Ohio State. Just another week when your father is the head coach, I suppose.
- Winner: Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights ended a truly horrific streak on Saturday, beating Indiana to earn their first home conference win in 21 tries. The last win came against Maryland in 2017. I come across a lot of stats like this, but I’m honestly not sure how this one is even possible.
- Loser: West Virginia. It seemed the Mountaineers couldn’t capitalize on the momentum from the Baylor win as they were dismantled on the road against Texas Tech. This job is one to watch down the stretch in terms of potential openings.
- Winner: Liberty. The Flames have quietly had a lot of success in the first season without Malik Willis. They dominated a good BYU team on Saturday, and their only loss came by one point against Wake Forest.
- Loser: UCLA. The magical start to the season felt a bit too good to be true, and the Bruins came crashing down to Earth on Saturday. Still, this is a good team and should still have the kind of season that demonstrates proof of concept for Chip Kelly.
- Winner: Boise State. Yeah, I’m not sure Andy Avalos is on the hot seat. After beating a plucky Air Force team on the road Saturday, this team is undefeated in conference play and, at 5-2, at least nominally remains in the NY6 race.
- Loser: Vanderbilt. It must be frustrating to be a Commodores fan. Watching this year’s team play, it really feels like Vandy has taken a step forward, but that hasn’t really manifested in terms of results. Saturday’s three-point loss at Missouri represented coach Clark Lea’s best hope of picking up his first-ever SEC win this season.
- Winner: UTSA. The Roadrunners scored a crucial Conference USA win against North Texas, both of which entered that game perfect in league play. Now UTSA stands alone in first place in the conference and seems poised to repeat as league champion. Meep Meep? Meep Meep.
- Winner: Auburn. The Tigers actually had a bye this week, but at least that meant Bryan Harsin’s record against Power Five teams on the plains remains at just 4-10.
