College Football Week 8 Awards October 27, 2015

Georgia Tech blocked a last-second field goal attempt by Florida State, and returned said blocked kick for a game-winning touchdown in one of the most fantastic finishes of the season.

(Note:  All rankings are current AP [week 8] unless otherwise noted.)

COACHES Wish I were him: Clay Helton, USC

Glad I’m not him: Gus Malzahn, Auburn

Lucky guy: Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech

Poor guy: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Doc Holliday, Marshall

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Al Golden, Miami

Desperately seeking … anything:  George O’Leary, UCF

TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Oklahoma State (defeated Kansas 58-10)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Pitt (defeated Syracuse 23-10)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Rutgers (lost to No. 1 Ohio State 49-7)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Maryland (lost to Penn State 31-30)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Mississippi State (defeated Kentucky 42-16)

Dang, they’re good: Clemson

Dang, they’re bad:  UCF

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  Utah

Did the season start? Arizona

Can the season end?  Kansas

Can the season never end?  Ohio State

GAMES

Play this again:  No. 8 Alabama 19, Tennessee 14

Play this again, too:  Arkansas 54, Auburn 46 (4OT)

Never play this again: No. 6 Clemson 55, Miami 0

What? UCLA 40, No. 20 Cal 24

Huh?  No. 24 Ole Miss 23, No. 15 Texas A&M 3

Are you kidding me?  Georgia Tech 22, No. 9 Florida State 16

Oh – my – God:  USC 42, No. 3 Utah 24

Told you so:  Vanderbilt 10, Missouri 3

NEXT WEEK

(rankings are current AP (post-week 8, pre-week 9)

Ticket to die for:  No. 11 Florida @ Georgia in Jacksonville

Also:  USC @ No. Cal

Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: No. 11 Notre Dame @ No. 22 Temple

Best non-Power Five matchup: Louisiana Tech @ Rice

Upset alert: Tennessee @ Kentucky

Must win: Arizona @ Washington

Offensive explosion: No. 10 Stanford @ Washington State

Defensive struggle: Maryland @ No. 12 Iowa

Great game no one is talking about:  North Carolina @ No. 25 Pitt

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Mark Helfrich of Oregon vs. Todd Graham of Arizona State

Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 17 Oklahoma @ Kansas

Why are they playing? Tennessee-Martin @ Arkansas

Plenty of good seats remaining: Idaho @ New Mexico State

They shoot horses, don’t they?  UTSA @ North Texas

Week 8 Take-aways:

And to think that everyone thought it would be a down week for football.  That was before Texas won a ground-and-pound game at home, in the rainy remnants over Hurricane Patricia, over Kansas State.  That was also before Georgia Tech, who has had a down year compared to the previous season, recreated Michigan State’s improbably win from last week by A) blocking a field goal, B) against No. 9 Florida State, and C) ran it in for a game-winning touchdown as the final seconds ticked off the clock, in one of the greatest fantastic finishes of the season, if not the decade.  This of course, is NOT to discount Michigan State’s fantastic finish from the previous week!

In the SEC, a noticeable upset occurred in the evening when Ole Miss held Texas A&M to only a field goal for the entire game.  Speaking of the SEC, Tennessee apparently continues to improve, as their annual rivalry game between Alabama lived up to said rivalry’s prestige, for the Vols played the highly ranked Tide as if they themselves were also a top-ten team.  Though Tennessee ultimately lost, it ought to be considered a moral victory, and foreseeably, teams will take the Vols lightly at their own peril.

Then to cap things off for the day, USC upset No. 3-ranked Utah at home, 42-24.  It was more than a defeat, it was a demolition.  Apparently nothing galvanizes a team with good talent like their coach being let go mid-season under unconventional circumstances and then being left for dead by everybody who pays attention to their sport.  Such a win no doubt generates some degree of momentum, but can the Men of Troy maintain it and salvage their season in so doing?  They shall have a solid test to prove that they can against insurgent Cal next week.  Fight on?

Apropos of nothing, who could have guessed at the beginning of the season that Auburn, who started off ranked no. 6 in the nation, would be 4-3 and 1-3 in the SEC by the end of eighth week?