College Football Awards, Week 8 (2024) October 21, 2024

Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.
Tags: Alabama, Arizona State, Auburn, Ball State, Bill O'Brien, Boise State, Boston College, Bret Bielema, Bulldogs, BYU, California, Cardinals, Charlotte, college football, Colorado State, Dan Lanning, Florida State, football, Georgia, Hurricanes, Illinois, Indiana, James Madison, Jeff Brohm, Josh Heupel, Kalani Sitake, Kalen DeBoer, Kennesaw State, Kenny Dillingham, Kentucky, Kirby Smart, liberty, Lincoln Riley, Longhorns, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Miami (Fla.), Mike Gundy, Mike Norvell, Navy, NCAA, NCAA football, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nico Iamaleava, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Red Grange, Rice, Riddell, Rutgers, Shane Beamer, South Caroina, Southern Miss, Steve Sarkesian, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, UCLA, UNLV, USC, Utah State, Vanderbilt, Wyoming
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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Kirby Smart, Georgia

Honorable mention:  Josh Heupel, Tennessee

Glad I’m not him: Steve Sarkesian, Texas

Ditto:  Kalen DeBoer, Alabama

Lucky guy: Kalani Sitake, BYU

Poor guy: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Shane Beamer, South Carolina

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Lincoln Riley, USC

Desperately seeking … anything:  Mike Norvell, Florida State

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Oregon (defeated Purdue 35-0)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Vanderbilt (defeated Ball State 24-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Charlotte (lost to No. 25 Navy 51-17)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Rice (lost to Tulane 24-10)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Indiana (defeated Nebraska 56-7)

Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad:  Kennesaw State

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  Texas

Did the season start?  Nebraska
Can the season end?  Auburn

Can the season never end? Indiana

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 5 Georgia 30, No. 1 Texas 15

Play these again, too:  No. 11 Tennessee 24, No. 7 Alabama 17

Never play this again: No. 16 Indiana 56, Nebraska 7

What?  UCLA 35, Rutgers 32

Huh?  No. 11 Tennessee 24, No. 7 Alabama 17

Are you kidding me??  Maryland 29, USC 28

Oh – my – God:  No. 5 Georgia 30, No. 1 Texas 15

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 9)
Ticket to die for:  No. 8 LSU @ No. 14 Texas A&M

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: Oregon State @ California

Best non-Power Four matchup: No. 17 Boise State @ UNLV

Upset alert: No. 24 Navy @ No. 12 Notre Dame

Must win: No. 5 Texas @ No. 25 Vanderbilt

Offensive explosion: New Mexico @ Colorado State

Defensive struggle: Auburn @ Kentucky

Great game no one is talking about: Syracuse @ No. 19 Pittsburgh

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Dan Lanning of Oregon vs Bret Bielema of Illinois

Honorable mention:  Jeff Brohm of Louisville vs Bill O’Brien of Boston College

Who’s bringing the body bags? Florida State @ No. 6 Miami (Fla.)

Why are they playing?  Liberty @ Kennesaw State

Plenty of good seats remaining: Utah State @ Wyoming

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Southern Miss @ James Madison

Week 8 Thoughts:

Last week was a tough act to follow.  This week nevertheless delivered some good ones. 

Let us address the 900-pound gorilla in the room by taking a look at the Georgia-Texas game.  The Longhorns are still good, but the Bulldogs bested them last night anyhow.  One takeaway is that neither team was able to handle its opponents’ front seven in the second half.  The problem was, Texas was also unable to handle Georgia’s in the first half.  Both teams have work to do to improve, with Georgia still probably having the bigger problem to deal with in terms of limitations of their own quarterback.  Nevertheless, it was a good game.

Perhaps more of a thriller was Tennessee defeating Alabama at home.  Nico Iamaleava seems to have marginally improved from the previous couple of games (he completed a monster pass with 1:33 left in the first half, for example, and made a clutch TD pass with 5:52 left in the game), but the real salvation for Tennessee came in their running game.  The tradition of the fans of the winning team lighting cigars materialized in such a way to see a smokey haze ascend out of Neyland Stadium upon the conclusion of the game.  As an aside, Alabama is 0-2 against teams from Tennessee this year.  That cannot sit well among the Crimson-clad faithful in the Yellowhammer State.

Don’t look now, but Indiana University is now 7-0 after dusting Nebraska 56-7.  At this rate, a projected record of 11-1 is not an unreasonable prognostication for the Hoosiers.

In other news, seeing Illinois don their 1920s-era throwback uniforms in honor of the 100^th anniversary of Red Grange’s senior season there was a sheer delight to see.  Yes, before the Galloping Ghost become the first superstar in the NFL, he was tearing it up on the gridiron for Illinois.  Further props to Illinois for being able to recreate the vintage leather helmet graphic pattern on their modern-day Riddells.

Forget the last week’s prognostications:  the actual offensive explosion this week turned out to be Miami at Louisville.  The No. 6 Hurricanes triumphed in the end, 52-45.  Imagine if the Cardinals had a slightly better defense.  Not only would the outcome of the game likely been different, but their current record of 4-3 would likely be better as well.