College Football Awards, Week 8 (2019) October 21, 2019

COACHES
Wish I were him: James Franklin, Penn State

Glad I’m not him: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan

Lucky guy: Tom Herman, Texas

Poor guy: Les Miles, Kansas

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Tom Herman, Texas

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Matt Rhule, Baylor

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Paul Chryst, Wisconsin

Desperately seeking … anything:  Tom Arth, Akron

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Ohio State (defeated Northwestern 52-3)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Texas (defeated Kansas 50-48)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Arkansas (lost to Auburn 51-10)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Illinois (defeated Wisconsin 24-23)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Ball State (defeated Toledo 52-14)

Dang, they’re good: Ohio State

Dang, they’re bad:  Rutgers

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  Wisconsin

Did the season start?  Washington

Can the season end?  Arkansas

Can the season never end?  Oklahoma

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 10 Penn State 28, No. 16 Michigan 20

Play this again, too:  No. 15 Texas 50, Kansas 48

Never play this again: No. 4 Ohio State 52, Northwestern 3

What?  Ball State 52, Toledo 14

Huh?  Georgia Tech 28, Miami (Fla.) 21, OT

Double-Huh?  Vanderbilt 21, No. 22 Missouri 14

Are you kidding me??  BYU 28, No. 14 Boise State 25

Oh – my – God:  Illinois 24, No. 6 Wisconsin 23

NEXT WEEK

(rankings are current AP (post-week 8, pre-week 9)
Ticket to die for:  No. 13 Wisconsin @ No. 3 Ohio State

Next-best game of the week:  No. 9 Auburn @ No. 2 LSU

Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five  matchup: Liberty @ Rutgers

Best non-Power Five matchup: Tulane @ Navy

Upset alert: Kansas State @ No. 5 Oklahoma

Must win: No. 11 Auburn @ No. 2 LSU

Offensive explosion: No. 15 Texas @ TCU  (hon. mention:  WSU @ No. 11 Oregon)

Defensive struggle: (inconclusive)

Great game no one is talking about: Cal @ No. 12 Utah

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Jim Harbaugh of Michigan vs Brian Kelly of Notre Dame

(honorable mention:  Herm Edwards of Arizona State vs Chip Kelly of UCLA)

Who’s bringing the body bags? Arkansas @ No. 1 Alabama

Why are they playing? Liberty @ Rutgers

Plenty of good seats remaining: Akron @ Northern Illinois

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Maryland @ No. 17 Minnesota

Week 8 Thoughts:

Two more undefeated teams bite the dust.  First No. 6 Wisconsin in the noon time slot, who went down to defeat at lowly Illinois on a last-second field goal.  Then, late at night, the second undefeated team lost today when No. 14 Boise State lost on the road to BYU.  The latter, however, is not nearly as massive as the former.

The shame of such an upset is that it takes some of the [proverbial] starch and the all-too-real excitement out of next week’s upcoming matchup between the Badgers and the Buckeyes.  But it will still be a great game.

Texas vs. Kansas

Texas had to score 50 points to beat Kansas.  Yes, Kansas.  Granted, Les Miles has the Jayhawks continually improving.  Still, this does not bode well for the Longhorns.  Clearly, injuries have depleted their defense, especially their secondary.  Any team with a good quarterback can thus score points on them.  The question becomes, can the Horns still stop the run?  Assuming they can, then they stand a chance yet against TCU next week.