College Football Week 8 Awards (2026) October 26, 2026

Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.
Tags: Arizona, Army, Badgers, Bill Belichick, Boise State, BYU, Camp Randall Stadium, Cincinnati, college football, Colorado, Colorado State, Curt Cignetti, Dan Lanning, East Carolina, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Floyd of Rosedale, football, Gamecocks, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Josh Heupel, Kennesaw State, Kyle Whittingham, liberty, Longhorns, Luke Fickell, Mario Cristobal, Miami, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri State, Navy, NCAA football, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota State, North Texas, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, P.J. Fleck, Rice, Rich Rodriguez, Rutgers, Sam Houston State, San Diego State, Shane Beamer, Sonny Dykes, South Carolina, Spencer Danielson, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Trinidad Chambliss, UCF, UCLA, USC, Utah, UTEP, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, Wisconsin
add a comment

COACHES
Wish I were him:  Shane Beamer, South Carolina

Glad I’m not him: Josh Heupel, Tennessee

Lucky guy: Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia

Poor guy: Sonny Dykes, TCU

Desperately seeking a wake-up call clue: Kyle Whittingham, Michigan

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Spencer Danielson, Boise State

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Kalani Sitake, BYU

Desperately seeking … anything: Dan Lanning, Oregon

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Northwestern (defeated Rutgers 42-14)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Florida Atlantic (defeated Rice 51-49)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kennesaw State (lost to Liberty 34-6)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Michigan (lost to Indiana 13-6 (OT))

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Hawaii (defeated Northern Illinois 56-21)

Dang, they’re good: Miami
Dang, they’re bad: Sacramento State

Can’t Stand Prosperity: BYU

Did the season start?  Tennessee
Can the season end? Vanderbilt

Can the season never end? UCLA

GAMES
Play this again: No. 19 Texas 34, No. 7 Ole Miss 27

Play this again, too: Virginia Tech 20, Clemson 16

Never play this again: Delaware 61, Missouri State 38

What? Minnesota 13, No. 15 Iowa 10

Come again? Wisconsin 24, No. 16 USC 7

Huh? South Carolina 27, No. 11 Tennessee 24

Double-Huh?? No. 19 Texas 34, No. 7 Ole Miss 27

Are you kidding me?? Cincinnati 31, No. 8 Texas Tech 24

Oh – my – God:  UCF 39, No. 2 BYU 31 (2OT)

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 9)
Ticket to die for:  No. 2 Ohio State @ USC

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: No. 5 Notre Dame @ Navy*

Best non-Power Four matchup: Army @ Memphis

Upset alert: No. 22 Arizona @ No. 13 Texas Tech

Must win: No. 17 Florida vs No. 3 Georgia

Offensive explosion: Florida Atlantic @ North Texas

Defensive struggle: No. 25 Wisconsin @ Iowa

Great game no one is talking about: South Carolina @ Oklahoma

Intriguing coaching matchup:  P.J. Fleck of Minnesota vs Curt Cignetti of Indiana

Also: Mario Cristobal of Miami vs Bill Belichick of North Carolina

Who’s bringing the body bags?  UTEP @ North Dakota State

Why are they playing?  Nevada @ No. 7 UCLA

Plenty of good seats remaining: Sam Houston State @ Missouri State

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Missouri State @ Delaware

Week 8 Thoughts:

Just as last week’s game involved many upsets, this week was certainly not devoid of them, either.  For example, after celebrating its biggest regular-season win in program history, BYU suffered a let-down on the road at UCF.  It’s college football:  this phenomenon is not unheard of.  Ole Miss suffered a loss at Texas, despite a now-predictable stagnant offense on the part of the Longhorns in the second half, and also despite 4^th-quarter heroics from Trinidad Chambliss.  One thing that negated a typical Chambliss-engineered comeback was that, unlike the previous two weeks, this time Texas discovered this new thing called a running game late in the second half.

Elsewhere, USC discovered the hazards and tribulations of playing a night game at Camp Randall Stadium.  No doubt the shock of the hostile environment and the colder-than-normal weather did not set well with the Trojans.  How else to account for losing 24-7?  On the other hand, Luke Fickell now as a signature win for 2026, with a Badgers sitting at 5-2, and at a much better spot than they were during the previous season.

In Columbia, S.C., the Gamecocks were able to get their act together, and upset Tennessee with a last-second field goal.  No doubt the South Carolina faithful was happy to eat the half-million-dollar fine when the fans stormed the field in celebration.

In another interesting upset, with a rivalry trophy on the line, Minnesota held off Iowa in arguably the grandest defensive struggle of the week, 13-10, and thus winning the famed Floyd of Rosedale trophy for a year.

Despite the week’s matchus appearing to be a minor let down after last week’s legendary slate of games, many turned out to be thrilling after all.  Not bad for a week that was not supposed to be a “winner”.

Offensive Explosion Review:

Remember when I predicted that the Utah vs Texas Tech game was supposed to be an offensive explosion?  It turned out to be quite the opposite, with Utah triumphing in the end 21-13.  Some games that could have qualified as offensive explosions, though, include Oklahoma State over Colorado, 57-24 (a bit lop-sided, to be sure).  Another possible example along those same lines was Delaware over Missouri State, 61-38.  A less lopsided example would be Memphis over East Carolina, 41-34.  One would not need to look far for two textbook examples, though, such as Florida Atlantic over Rice, 51-49, and, perhaps the grandest of the week, Colorado State over San Diego State, 56-49.