Well here we go, our weekly look at the topsy turvy world of college football. Week 8 certainly provided memorable moments from coaches grabbing players facemasks to the worst fake punt ever attempted.
Winners
- Baylor. The Bears remained undefeated following a 45-27 road beatdown of Oklahoma State, whom were favorites in the game. Baylor has answered the call when many thought they would falter. Right now, the second best team in the Big 12 resides in Texas, but it’s not the Longhorns, it’s most certainly the Baylor Bears.
- Illinois. It’s been a rough go of it for Lovie Smith and the Illinois program since he took over back in 2016. The Illini are a meager 12-31 over that span and many wonder how Smith continues to keep his job in Champaign. It may not change much in the long run but Illinois knocked off previously unbeaten Wisconsin at home in a huge upset. You have to feel good for Smith and the shellshocked Illinois fanbase and maybe he’s close to getting things turned around.
- Kansas. To the shock of all, Kansas led the 15th ranked Texas Longhorns on the road 48-47 with just over a minute to play. Texas wound up driving for a game winning field goal but huge props to Les Miles for getting Kansas up for a game like that and nearly pulling a monumental upset. This definitely puts Texas into the loser category after staying within an arm’s length of Oklahoma last week, they clearly weren’t ready to play football.
- Penn State’s white out. What an atomsphere it was inside Happy Valley for the Nittany Lions’ win over Michigan.
Losers
- Missouri. They promised us they’d changed. They won five straight and vaulted into the top-25 then they lost to 1-5 Vanderbilt. This loss is inexcusable after fans slowly hopped back on the Mizzou bandwagon after losing to Wyoming week 1. Now head coach Barry Odom will, once again, have to circle the wagons and get his team focused for the home stretch which includes Georgia and Florida in the coming weeks.
- Arkansas. It’s not necessarily the 51-10 loss to Auburn that puts them in the losers category this week but this fake punt which should be replayed for all eternity.
- Jeremy Pruitt. Pruitt is quickly becoming quite an unlikeable fella there as coach of the Volunteers. His team played admirably in a loss to Alabama, but it was the way he treated Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano that has people talking.
- People that watched Georgia vs. Kentucky. It was a mess in every sense of the word. Jake Fromm struggled mightily again throwing for only 35 yards (albeit in horrendous weather), meanwhile Kentucky’s one-dimensional offense is unwatchable. The game was a scoreless tie at halftime before Georgia pulled away 21-0, but this one is not going to wind up on many Georgia football highlight reels.
