College Football Awards Week 8 (2023) October 23, 2023

Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.
Tags: Arizona State, Arkansas, Army, Ball State, Barry Odom, Bryson Barnes, BYU, Caleb Williams, Central Florida, Central Michigan, CHip Kelly, Colorado, Dana Holgorsen, Deion Sanders, Duke, East Carolina, Houston, Indiana, Iowa, James Franklin, Kalen DeBoer, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Kirk Ferentz, Lincoln Riley, Longhorns, Louisville, LSU, Miami (OH), Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Nevada, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Penn State, Pitt, Ryan Day, Sam Houston State, Sam Pittman, SDSU, Southern Miss, Steve Sarkesian, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Trojans, UCLA, UMass, UNLV, USC, Utes, UTSA, Virginia, Washington
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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Ryan Day, Ohio State

Glad I’m not him: James Franklin, Penn State

Lucky guy: Steve Sarkesian, Texas

Poor guy: Dana Holgorsen, Houston

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Kalen DeBoer, Washington

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Barry Odom, UNLV

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa

Desperately seeking … anything:  Sam Pittman, Arkansas

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: LSU (defeated Army 62-0)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Washington (defeated Arizona State 15-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Michigan State (lost to No. 2 Michigan 49-0)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Central Florida (lost to Oklahoma 31-29)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Kansas State (defeated TCU 41-3)  

Dang, they’re good: Michigan
Dang, they’re bad:  Southern Miss

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  North Carolina

Did the season start?  USC
Can the season end?  Sam Houston State

Can the season never end?  Ohio State

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 3 Ohio State 20, No. 7 Penn State 12

Never play this again: LSU 62, Army 0

What?  Ball State 24, Central Michigan 17

Huh?  Nevada 6, SDSU 0

Are you kidding me??  Minnesota 12, No. 24 Iowa 10

Oh – my – God:  Virginia 31, No. 10 North Carolina 27

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 9)
Ticket to die for:  No. 8 Oregon @ No. 13 Utah

Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five  matchup: (none)

Best non-Power Five matchup: UNLV @ Fresno State

Upset alert: Kentucky @ No. 21 Tennessee

Must win: No. 16 Duke @ No. 20 Louisville

Offensive explosion: Colorado @ No. 23 UCLA

Defensive struggle: (uncertain)

Great game no one is talking about: Miami (OH) @ Ohio U

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Deion Sanders of Colorado vs Chip Kelly of UCLA

Who’s bringing the body bags?  Indiana @ No. 10 Penn State

Why are they playing? Pitt @ No. 14 Notre Dame

Plenty of good seats remaining: UMass @ Army

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  East Carolina @ UTSA

Week 8 Thoughts:

Ohio State vs Penn State

After this week, Penn State proved that they are an excellent football team.  The only problem is for them, that Ohio State proved that they are even better, to the point where the Buckeyes demonstrated they belong in the top five.

USC vs Utah

The Utes passed a test, but not quite in the way anticipated.  As good as Utah’s defense is, their offense surpassed USC’s on the ground (249 rushing yards compared to USC’s 145).  Clearly, the Trojans were beat up front.  Also telling:  While Utah QB Bryson Barnes had three TD passes, USC’s Caleb Williams, last year’s Heisman winner, had zero.  All of USC’s touchdowns were ironically on the ground.  The Trojans passed to set up the run, while the Utes ran to set up the pass.

To look at things more strategically, Lincoln Riley needs to evolve his offense beyond counting on Williams to go out there and simply conjure up magic.  Utah’s approach was clearly more fundamentally sound, and it bore the sweet fruit of victory.

Other thoughts:

Oklahoma’s and Texas’ performances were lackluster this week.  This is most curious.  To contextualize, both teams are coming off bye weeks after an epic showdown against each other in the Cotton Bowl the week before then.  What is afoot, and, can both of these teams shake off this apparent funk?

Also, it is too bad that Iowa has a bye this time around, as whomever they play appears to become a shoo-in for the defensive struggle of the week.  That said, the 12-10 result in favor of rival Minnesota was ‘surpassed’, for an even greater defensive struggle occurred between Mississippi State and Arkansas, with the latter triumphing 7-3.  Or, perhaps we should consider Nevada eclipsing SDSU 6-0.  Then there is the head-scratcher of Arizona State holding No. 5 Washington to only 15 points, but they could only muster seven in turn.  Quite the statistical cluster for one week of football.

Looking ahead to Week 9: 

Oklahoma vs Kansas

Possibly the only interesting game for the noon EDT time slot this upcoming week, which is a shame.

Louisville vs Duke

Both teams have top 20 rankings, and both are seeking redemption as they are coming off losses.  This could be a good one.

Texas vs BYU

Steve Sarkesian coaches against his alma mater.  That alone is intriguing.  What is even more intriguing is whether Texas (along with Oklahoma in its respective game) can play back to form after the Longhorns dodged a bullet this week.

Minnesota vs Michigan State

Sometimes two bad teams butting heads can make for a decent game.  Here is one potential example, what with Minnesota inexplicably underperforming, and Michigan State in a self-inflicted disarray.  Like a trainwreck, you can’t not watch.

Utah vs Oregon

The Utes’ vaunted defense will be put to an even bigger test this time, as Oregon’s offense does not simply revolve around the unsystematic approach of simply asking their QB to create big plays out of nothing (looking your way, USC).

UCLA vs Colorado

If both teams bring their A-game, then sit back and enjoy the offensive fireworks display.