Week eight of the college football season has come and gone, and with each passing week we draw a little closer to the postseason, and a potential playoff picture has begun to come into view. We are beginning to separate the legitimate contenders from the unconvincing pretenders, and there are teams that have pleasantly surprised and those that have been crushingly disappointing throughout the season.
How about that for an intro? Let’s get into some takeaways!
Oregon is the best team in America at this point in time
It seems like this section changes every single week, doesn’t it?
I understand that Purdue is not exactly the stiffest of competition under young head coach Ryan Walters (they’re currently 1-6), but there was a small bit of pressure on Oregon to come out and make a statement after a thrilling, hard-fought win over a fellow Big Ten juggernaut in Ohio State.
Well, consider that statement made.
The Ducks routed Purdue and to be honest, there were times where it didn’t even look like they were trying very hard. It’s tough to pick out something that didn’t work in this game for Oregon. Dillon Gabriel was laser-sharp and wildly efficient, going 21-for-25 for 290 passing yards and two touchdowns. Jordan James found the end zone twice. Tez Johnson hauled in seven catches for 66 yards and a touchdown, and Noah Whittington caught a touchdown pass as well.
Purdue’s offense was simply inept, as quarterback Ryan Browne failed to complete half his passes and threw an interception. Reggie Love had a pretty good game, rushing for 93 yards on eleven carries, but that was about as good as it got for the Boilermakers.
Simply put, Oregon made a statement that says that they, at this moment in time, are the best team in the country. They have one of the best wins of the year so far, and it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot that can slow down this team at the moment.
Texas A&M could be a sneaky contender for the College Football Playoff
Do you remember what I said last week about LSU and how they should be given more love both in the SEC race and in the national race? Yeah, same deal for the Texas A&M Aggies at this point in time.
Texas A&M came out with an extremely solid win over Mississippi State in front of a very hostile crowd in Starkville. That place is one of the toughest places in the country to play, and winning on the road in the SEC is nothing to sneeze at, no matter how the game ends up playing out.
Aggies quarterback Connor Weigman was very up-and-down, as he threw for 217 yards and a score but also two interceptions, but that didn’t exactly slow down the Texas A&M offense. Le’Veon Moss continued to stake his claim as one of the most underrated players in the entire country, as he put up 65 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Wideout Jabre Barber also had a solid game, catching six passes for 92 yards.
Texas A&M is simply continuing to win games. They’re 6-1 overall and 4-0 in SEC play. It might not be the flashiest, it might not look the greatest on the final score or on the stat sheet, but they’re continuing to win games. And they’re ranked in the Top 25 for a reason. They aren’t getting enough recognition in the conference and nationally, and that needs to change.
This team can make some serious noise as the year goes on.
Miami-Louisville was completely and utterly off the rails
I guess that the ACC decided to take a page out of the Big 12’s book in this one and score points. Like, a lot of points. Miami and Louisville scored some points. Like, a lot of points. They scored all the points. All of them.
This game was simply absurd and showcased two unbelievable offenses. Both quarterbacks were absolutely phenomenal throughout the game. Cam Ward added to his Heisman Trophy candidacy, as he threw for 319 yards and four touchdowns. Louisville’s Tyler Shough saw that and proceeded to put up 341 yards and four touchdowns of his own.
And the fireworks were just getting started. Miami running back Damien Martinez added 89 yards and a rushing touchdown. Samuel Brown and Xavier Restrepo combined for 226 receiving yards, and they combined to catch two of Ward’s four scores. For the Cardinals, wideout Ja’Corey Brooks largely had his way with the Miami secondary, as he hauled in six receptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns.
From about halfway through the third quarter all the way into the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, there were four consecutive touchdowns scored by both teams. Miami was up 31-24 in the third before Louisville hit paydirt for seven to tie the game. Then, Miami drove right down the field and took the lead again. Louisville was completely unfazed and drove down the field and tied it up again. Then, Miami took it down the field again and snatched the lead right back. Miami then finally got a defensive stop, then the offense scored yet again and that was essentially all she wrote, save for a late Cardinal garbage-time score.
But this game was absolutely wild. I honestly didn’t know the ACC had a game like that in it. I’m just joking, of course, but if you like offense, then this was a game that you aren’t going to forget any time soon.
Alabama is officially in trouble
The Crimson Tide are teetering on the edge now.
The edge of what, you might be asking? Oh, nothing, just the edge of being all but eliminated from the College Football Playoff race. So no big deal, really.
I’m kidding. It’s absolutely a big deal. And Alabama simply did not look particularly good for a large portion of Saturday’s game against Tennessee. In front of a raucous crowd in Knoxville, there were lots of times where the Tide looked sluggish and out of rhythm. Jalen Milroe was once again underwhelming, throwing for 239 yards and a touchdown but also tossing two bad interceptions. Ryan Williams had a good game, as he caught eight passes for 73 yards, but the running game was largely nonexistent against an excellent Tennessee front.
I do have to give credit to the Volunteers and the way they played all night. The offense was a bit of a roller coaster throughout the game, but the defense was very good. They constantly jammed Alabama’s receivers, made Milroe’s life extremely difficult, and made plays all game long. And the offense did in fact show up when it mattered most, and that wasn’t exemplified more than quarterback Nico Iamaveala hitting wideout Chris Brazzell II on an absolute dime late in the fourth quarter to give the Volunteers a lead they would never relinquish.
But as for the Crimson Tide, they are perilously close to DEFCON 1. This team just looks different under new head coach Kalen DeBoer, and not in a good way. It is clear there was a rather drastic culture shift under DeBoer as compared to Nick Saban, and that has resulted in the team looking noticeably more undisciplined thus far.
They’re playing with fire. It’s a dangerous game to play. And they desperately need a win at home against Missouri next week to get back into the national race.
Georgia reminded everyone why they won back-to-back national championships
Just a couple of years ago is when that happened, if you remember. The ‘Dawgs haven’t exactly gone anywhere.
The fact of the matter is this: Georgia simply physically outplayed Texas. The performance of the Bulldogs’ defensive line is what sticks out to me the most about this game. For sixty minutes, the Georgia defensive front absolutely mauled the Texas offensive line. Georgia was tough, rough, physical, and aggressive all night defensively. They made Quinn Ewers’ life a living nightmare in the pocket all game long.
And on offense, while Carson Beck wasn’t exactly the most accurate passer in this one, he still did what was needed to get his team in position to score and win. The big story on offense was the performance of running back Trevor Etienne. Etienne carried the ball 19 times for 87 yards and punched it into the end zone three times. There was a time late in the third quarter where Texas drew within eight points and it looked like a comeback for the ages might be in play.
But Trevor Etienne just took the ball again, laughed to himself (probably) and just casually scored his third touchdown of the night to give the Bulldogs a lead that they would never surrender again.
That score pushed Georgia’s lead to 30-15, which was also the final score. This was a hugely satisfying win in every facet of the game, and this was a kind of victory that can define a season. I mean, coming in on the road and dominating the top team in the country en route to a season-defining win, as I said? That is something you can hang your hat on.
Remember when I said that Oregon had one of the best wins of the season? Yeah, well this win from Georgia takes the cake at this moment in time.
And last but not least…
The Indiana Hoosiers are for real
If you didn’t know before, you know now. Because it’s true.
One of the narratives for the then-6-0 Indiana Hoosiers was that they hadn’t yet played a quality opponent. They were undefeated in Big Ten play but struggled to put away Maryland in their first Big Ten game. They let Northwestern go step-for-step with them. There was some evidence that people used to fuel their beliefs that Indiana was not as good as their undefeated record claimed.
Well, they’re officially for real now. There are no more questions on that front.
It wasn’t just that they destroyed a very solid Nebraska team 56-7 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington. It was the way they did it. The offense was sharp and efficient. The defense was incredible, as they made Dylan Raiola’s life hell for three hours, as they picked off the true freshman three times and constantly stuffed the Cornhuskers’ offense in its tracks.
Quarterback Kurtis Rourke’s statline of 189 yards, one touchdown, and one interception might not exactly jump off the page, but he played very well all things considered. And the thing about it was that he honestly didn’t need to be earth-shatteringly good. That’s how well the Hoosiers played as a team. This game was 28-7 at halftime. And after Rourke injured his throwing hand in the third quarter and backup Tayven Jackson came in, Indiana didn’t miss a beat. The Hoosiers scored four more touchdowns in the second half, and that brought the game to its 56-7 final score.
For the Hoosiers, the MVP of this game, if not the entire defense, might just be running back Justice Ellison. He was phenomenal in this one, as he ran for an efficient 105 yards on just nine carries. Oh, and he found the end zone twice as well. For a team with questions about their running game going into the year, they seem to be more than capable of dominating games on the ground. And Ellison is quietly having an outstanding season.
But the fact of the matter is: head coach Curt Cignetti and the Indiana Hoosiers are absolutely for real. They are 7-0 and they are for real. They are ranked No. 13 in the latest AP Poll for a reason. And College GameDay is heading to Bloomington for the first time in the program’s history next week for the Hoosiers’ bout with Washington for a reason.
Elms' Essentials: Week 12
