Week 8 of college football saw the minor lights in the AP top 25 take turns taking a beating while the nation’s top 6 teams remain exactly the same with undefeated Texas, Alabama and Penn State 1-2 -3 followed by the once defeated Oklahoma, Florida and Southern California.
Taking care of business as usual was No. 1 Texas at home over No. 11 Missouri 56-31, No. 2 Alabama at home over unranked Mississippi 24-20, No. 3 Penn State at home over Michigan unranked 46-17, No. 4 Oklahoma at home over No. 16 Kansas 45-31, No. 5 Florida was inactive and No. 6 Southern Cal on the road over unranked Washington State 69-0.
Texas took a 35-0 lead in scoring touchdowns on their first 5 possessions of the first half as QB Colt McCoy had a rush night, passing for 337 yards and 2 TDs, rushing for 2 more TDs and setting a record school with 17 consecutive completions. Texas certainly looks like a team that could play in the BCS National Championship Game as the Longhorns dominated on both sides of the ball.
Alabama led Mississippi 20-3 at the half and it was a good thing because the Old Miss Rebels won the second half 17-0. The Crimson Tide needed a late defensive position and got it to contain an upset in Mississippi.
Michigan was feeling much better after jumping out to a 10-0 lead and a 17-7 lead, but Penn State came back with 39 unanswered points to defeat the Wolverines and snap a 9-game losing streak against Michigan. Joe Paterno and his Nittany Lions think it’s his year, so you better get out of the way.
Kansas scored in every quarter, but Oklahoma kept coming and prevailed as QB Sam Bradford passed for a Sooner school record 468 yards and added 3 TD passes.
Southern Cal showed no mercy visiting Washington State by shredding the Cougars 69-zip, racking up 625 yards of total offense, including 28 first downs and 402 yards in the first half. Washington State’s shutout loss was its first since 1984, 24 years and 280 games ago.
On paper, the Cougars aren’t the worst team in the country simply because they played and won a game against 1-AA Portland State. Their rivals, the Washington Huskies, remain winless in 6 outings, so they have earned the distinction. Even winning North Texas 0-7 isn’t as bad as the Cougars and Huskies.
Other Top 25 winners this week included No. 7 Texas Tech on the road over unranked Texas A&M 43-25, No. 8 Oklahoma State at home over unranked Baylor 34-6, No. 10 Georgia in home over No. 22 Vanderbilt 24-14, No. 12 Ohio State on the road over No. 20 Michigan State 45-7, No. 13 LSU on the road over unranked South Carolina 24-17, No. 14 Utah at home over unranked Colorado State 49-16, No. 15 Boise State at home over unranked Hawaii 27-7, No. 19 South Florida at home over Syracuse 45-13, and No. 23 Pittsburgh on the road over Navy 42-21.
So, 14 of the 23 teams in the AP Top 25 won (61%) while 9 of the 23 lost (39%), as 4 of the 9 losers met ranked teams. No. 24 Ball State, along with Florida, was inactive.
Number 9 Brigham Young bit the dust as an undefeated team traveling to unranked Texas Christian and stomped them down a mud hole 32-7, both for undefeated teams playing cupcake schedules. Entering the game, BYU’s schedule force Sagarin was ranked 121st out of 119 Division 1-A teams.
No. 17 Virginia Tech traveled to unranked Boston College and managed to lose 28-23. The No. 18 North Carolina traveled to unranked Virginia and lost to the Cavaliers in overtime 16-13. No. 21 Wake Forest traveled to Maryland unranked and was defeated 26-0. No. 25 California traveled to unranked Arizona and was upset 42-27. There seems to be a pattern here: Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Wake Forest and California all had road games against unranked teams and lost, proving it’s dangerous to travel.
Losses to Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Wake Forest and California dropped them out of the top 25 rankings. Losses to Vanderbilt and Michigan State also rebounded them.
New to this week’s rankings are Georgia Tech (6-1) at No. 21st, Tulsa (7-0 on 141 schedule strength to start the week) at No. 22, Boston College (5-1) at No. 23, and Minnesota (6-1) at No. 25. Returning to the Top 25 for the second time this season were Texas Christian (7-1) at No. 15 and Florida State (5-1) at No. 24. .
The remaining 9 undefeated teams include Texas, Alabama, Penn State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Utah, Boise State, Ball State, and Tulsa.
At least 1 of the undefeated 9 will lose this Saturday (10-25-08) when No. 7 Oklahoma State (7-0) travels to No. 1 Texas (7-0). Two other hardcore games find No. 8 Texas Tech (7-0) at No. 19 Kansas (5-2) and No. 3 Penn State (8-0) at Ohio State (7-1).
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley