Week 8 CFB Review
A look back at this past weekend and what I thought about some of the biggest college football results and storylines:
Alabama gets the win, but Tua gets hurt. Top-ranked Alabama easily handled Tennessee 35–13, as expected, but star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa went down with a nasty ankle injury. After suffering a high ankle sprain, Tua has already had surgery, and will now have to begin rehab. We will see third-year player Mac Jones take over the reps at QB for the time being, as head coach Nick Saban says there really is no timetable at this point for his return. Now all Crimson Tide fans hold their breath as we see if Tua will be back and healthy in time for the November 9th date with 2nd ranked LSU.
Some big Heisman race performances. As the second half of the season begins, the Heisman race will certainly be heating up. LSU QB Joe Burrow had an outstanding performance in a 36–13 win over Mississippi State. Burrow threw for 4 TD’s and 327 yards while breaking the LSU single-season TD record with 29. And it’s only been 7 games! On the other hand, Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts had yet another superb performance in a 52–14 win over West Virginia. Hurts accounted for 5 TD’s and threw for 316 yards. It is fairly safe to say these two will be duking it out for the rest of the season to see how will bring home the Heisman trophy.
Oh no, Wisconsin. After Wisconsin has been basically shutting out all of their opponents so far this season, disaster has struck. The Badgers suffered an absolutely stunning loss at Illinois this past weekend, 24–23. After poor performances on both sides of the ball, Wisconsin could not get anything going and ultimately paid the price. In what was truly a trap game before their matchup with big-time Ohio State next week, the Badgers playoff hopes have definitely spiraled downward.
Watch out for Penn State. I would say Penn State is definitely starting to get the attention they deserve after defeating Michigan this past weekend and passively moving to 7–0 on the season. The Nittany Lions looked dominating at times, and sloppy at times, but were able to take advantage of the Wolverines late-game mistakes to pull off the big win, and keep themselves in line for a legitimate playoff run. Penn State does have a tough schedule the rest of the way, having to play at Michigan State, Minnesota, and Ohio State. We will see who they can take down and if they will run the table in the Big Ten.
Surprise stuff. Minnesota, Baylor, and SMU remain undefeated on the season as their early-season surprises continue, while Boise State dropped their first game. After suffering a brutal loss to Wyoming in Week 1, Missouri has climbed back into the national rankings, only now suffering an ugly loss at SEC bottom-feeder Vanderbilt.
-Brandon Zapotoski
Sports Throne Founder
