Whoo, boy. What a week this was, huh?
Week 8 of the college football season contained quite a thrilling set of games. We learned a lot about certain teams in the Top 25, including whether or not some teams are legitimate conference contenders and College Football Playoff contenders (spoiler: the answer to that is yes…and no. Depends on the team we’re talking about). We also had some legendary quarterback statlines and some incredibly impressive performances.
Wanna talk about it? That’s what I do here. Let’s dive in!
Nebraska reeks of fraudulence
Joe talking about a Friday game? What world are we living in right now?
This week, I am choosing not to start on Saturday but instead cover a game during the Friday slate, the appetizer leading up to the main entree, if you will.
Anyway, Nebraska was a newcomer into the Top 25 this past week, and they went on the road to take on Big Ten foe Minnesota. And two things were proven during this game: 1) it is incredibly tough to earn a win in front of the crowd at Huntington Bank Stadium, and 2) the Cornhuskers radiate a powerful stench of fraudulence.
I was really starting to turn the corner on Nebraska. A 5-1 record, improvement from Dylan Raiola in his second season as a starter? An opportunity to show the country that the Huskers are officially back?
Well, consider that opportunity missed. Big time.
Nebraska’s offense had what was probably one of the most disgusting performances I’ve seen so far this season. Raiola completed 17 of his 25 passes, but threw for just 177 passing yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. He also posted a really bad QBR (39.4) and it seemed like every time Raiola looked to pass, he found a defender in his face. That usually came right before Raiola found himself on his back, which seemed to be a recurring theme against the Golden Gophers’ defense.
For Minnesota, this was a phenomenal win in front of their home crowd, and the Gophers are starting to look like one of the most underrated teams in the Big Ten at 5-2. But for Nebraska, this was a giant missed opportunity, and now I can’t take the Huskers seriously as a contender in the Big Ten following this performance.
LSU’s College Football Playoff hopes may officially be dashed
I had been building up to this in the previous weeks when I talked about LSU, saying that they did not deserve the top-five ranking they had in the AP Poll during the first couple weeks of the 2025 season.
Now, this loss this past Saturday against Vanderbilt might have officially put the nail in the coffin.
In all honesty, Garrett Nussmeier played pretty well. He completed 19 of his 28 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns. He also kept the ball out of harm’s way for the most part, not registering a turnover.
However, his QBR was just okay (67.5), and one of the themes of this game was that Vanderbilt seemed to be one step ahead of LSU practically all day. The Tigers’ defense had serious issues stopping the legs of Vandy quarterback Diego Pavia, as he ran for 86 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
It seemed that LSU just made a few too many mistakes, and they had serious problems coming up with any answers to stop the Commodores’ running game. Vanderbilt produced 239 total rushing yards and three total touchdowns, including the aforementioned two from Pavia.
Vanderbilt rode the support of their home crowd to a 31-24 win, and they improved to 6-1 and remain a legitimate contender in the SEC. However, LSU might be in a tailspin heading towards the other end of that spectrum, as they are now 5-2 and their hopes for a berth in the College Football Playoff might officially be eradicated.
Oh, and did I mention that they have No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 4 Alabama as their next two games? And they have to travel to Tuscaloosa? Yeah, have fun with that!
Does Texas A&M deserve their Top-5 ranking in the AP Poll?
Okay, I know what you’re probably thinking. Joe, they won. Isn’t all that matters?
Yes, they did. A win is a win as they say. And there are a few factors to consider here: Texas A&M’s offense looked awesome. They were on the road going against an absolutely electric crowd in Fayetteville. Arkansas always puts up a big fight against one of their most hated rivals in the Aggies. I’m from Texas, so I have a bit of experience on both sides of this rivalry.
But there are questions to take away from this game, particularly in the department of the Aggies’ defense. While Texas A&M’s offense was awesome, as Marcel Reed went 23-for-32 for 280 yards and three touchdowns, the defense gave up 42 points to a two-win Arkansas team.
No matter how you slice it, that’s not good.
And for how good Marcel Reed was (he was really good), Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green might have been even better. Green put up a valiant effort against the Aggies’ defense, going 19-for-32 for 256 yards and three touchdown passes, along with no turnovers and a sparkling 95.4 QBR.
Texas A&M held a 10-point lead in this game with under seven minutes to go, and Arkansas scored a very late garbage time touchdown, and they would have needed a miracle to get the ball back with a chance to potentially win the game. Needless to say, a miracle did not happen.
But at the same time, there seem to be legitimate problems with this Texas A&M defense. They simply won’t be able to trust their offense to win the game for them every single week, no matter how good that unit is.
A major showdown with No. 20 LSU in Baton Rouge is next on their schedule, and that should be a good test as to how good their defense really is.
Arch Manning needs to be benched
I simply have to wonder whether or not Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian knows what the right thing to do is.
Because Texas, who is now No. 22 in the AP Poll, simply does not deserve to be ranked.
There have been some incredibly frustrating offensive performances this season for Arch Manning and the Longhorns, but this game on the road against Kentucky might take the cake.
Against a Kentucky team that still does not have a win in SEC play, Arch Manning completed only 12 of his 27 passes for just 132 passing yards, and did not throw a touchdown or an interception. And it goes beyond the statline or the box score; Manning just had some brutal misses and some inaccurate throws that killed the Longhorns’ drives. Like this one, for instance.
The fact that this was a three-point win for Texas (and the fact that this was a win at all) was a minor miracle. Outside of Manning passing for just 132 yards, the entire Longhorns offense put up just 47 yards on the ground. Quintrevion Wisner had a touchdown but that was about it.
Manning is coming excruciatingly close to costing his team games, and regardless of how his head coach might defend him, I have to imagine that Steve Sarkisian is thinking about an alternative possibility.
At the very least, it’s a choice he has to make in the very near future.
Georgia continues to stack up wins
Just like I said about Alabama last week, Georgia continues to do what we’ve become accustomed to seeing them do over the past few years: win games consistently.
This past Saturday, they defended their home turf against previously-unbeaten Ole Miss, as this game went back-and-forth before the Bulldogs pulled out the win late.
Gunner Stockton had what was probably the best game of his season, as he completed 26 of his 31 passes for 289 yards and four touchdown passes. He only had one more incompletion than touchdown passes! And not to mention, Georgia’s rushing attack racked up 221 yards and a score as a team. And that score came from Stockton, who added 59 yards and a touchdown with his legs.
But that is not to say that Ole Miss played like trash, because they absolutely did not. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss did go 19-for-36 (not great), but he did throw for 263 yards and a touchdown. He added 42 yards and two touchdowns on the ground as well. And he generally did a good job keeping the ball out of harm’s way against an excellent Georgia defense.
But the fact of the matter is that no one really pays attention to anything except the final score at the end of the game. And when the clock hit triple zeroes, Georgia had 43 points in comparison to Ole Miss’ 35.
Both of these teams are now 6-1 and have their sights set on berths in the College Football Playoff. But this might have been one of the best conference wins of the season for Georgia.
And last but not least…
Arizona State secured one of the best wins of the 2025 season
Arizona State needed a win like this, just because of how topsy-turvy their season has been.
The Sun Devils successfully defended their home turf in one of the best Big 12 games of the year so far, as they grinded out an impressive 26-22 win over previously-undefeated Texas Tech.
Admittedly, Arizona State dominated this game for about the first three quarters or so, as they were up 19-7 heading into the fourth quarter, and the Sun Devils’ defense was making life incredibly difficult on Texas Tech quarterback Will Hammond and the Red Raiders’ offense.
However, Texas Tech then ripped off 15 unanswered points, culminating in a touchdown pass from Hammond to Reggie Virgil from 12 yards out to take a 22-19 lead following a bad Arizona State punt.
But the Red Raiders left too much time on the clock for Sam Leavitt and Arizona State’s offense.
Leavitt calmly led the Sun Devils down the field in the last two minutes of the game, connecting with star wide receiver Jordyn Tyson on several throws, including a 33-yard bomb that set up Arizona State inside the Texas Tech 25-yard line.
The drive culminated in running back Raleek Brown punching the ball in from a yard out to give the Sun Devils that 26-22 lead, and while Texas Tech did get the ball all the way to Arizona State’s 28-yard line, Hammond’s final Hail Mary attempt fell incomplete and the Sun Devils escaped with the victory. Enjoy this elite camera angle of the final play.
One of the best wins of any team this year is property of Arizona State’s. For Texas Tech, you can’t hang your head too low about this loss, because the Red Raiders are still very much in line for consideration for a berth in both the Big 12 Championship and the College Football Playoff.
But at the same time, this was a winnable game, and Texas Tech has to be frustrated with the way this one ended.
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