After a week off to enjoy some time in Vegas I’m back, not so refreshed, with this week’s rankings. Even more so exhausting was watching the Oregon Ducks travel to Washington to face the Huskies in what was the biggest game of the season thus far.
Both these teams battled back and forth throughout the game; a battle won by Washington. The final score may not have told the tail of who was the better team though, as Oregon passed up chip shot field goals on 3 different occasions, a decision that comes down to the head coach not the players.
Oregon will be looking back at this game the rest of the season and those decisions that ultimately had them fall 3 points short.
Washington is now in the driver seat to win their conference and find themselves in the college football playoffs while Oregon will have to win out to have a chance.
Staying in the same conference, while Washington was firmly putting themselves in the middle of the national championship race, USC was playing themselves out of the race in early October.
The Trojans headed to South Bend, Indiana where they got thrashed by Notre Dame. As much as everyone loves to talk about how poor their defense is, the offense orchestrated by defending Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams was the story in the first half.
Notre Dame turned all 3 first half interceptions by Williams into short touchdowns and they never looked back from there. USC is now eliminated from any playoff talk while Notre Dame might have a slim glimmer of hope but are most likely out of contention as well.
The story of this game in my opinion must be Caleb Williams. News broke all week how he wants partial ownership of the team that drafts him but for as much talent as he has, who knows how good this guy is at reading NFL defenses.
At this moment I think he believes he’s way more advanced at the position than he is, he was horrible verse Notre Dame. Let’s punch the breaks for a moment on his greatness.
If you want to talk about greatness how about talking about the performance from newly reinstated North Carolina wide receiver Devontez Walker.
The talk all week heading into this game was about Mario Cristobal’s decision not to kneel the ball verse Georgia Tech and how Miami could possibly bounce back from giving one away.
The answer as witnessed Saturday night was not cover Devontez Walker who ripped the Miami secondary apart for 132 yards and 3 touchdowns leading North Carolina to a double-digit win.
Thus, ending Miami’s championship dreams and putting North Carolina on a collision course with Florida State. A breezy schedule lays ahead for North Carolina before they end the regular season with rivalry games verse Duke, Clemson and NC State.
My College Football Playoff Rankings
1. Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia jumped out to a comfortable lead at half time only to see Vanderbilt cut it to 10 points late. Georgia held on to the late push by Vanderbilt to extend their win streak to 24 games. The cost of this victory? A potentially season ending injury to star tight end Brock Bowers. Yikes!
Week 8 -BYE
2. Florida State Seminoles
The Seminoles enjoyed their most efficient win of the season by annihilating Syracuse in Tallahassee 41 to 3. All anyone could talk about after the game was Keon Coleman’s one-handed catch of the year candidate. He followed that up with 247 all-purpose yards and a score. Big game this weekend in Tallahassee verse Duke.
Week 8- Duke
3. Ohio State Buckeyes
No look ahead spot for the Buckeyes occurred this weekend as they traveled to West Lafayette to pummel the Purdue Boilmakers. Before the Boilmakers could find the scoreboard Ohio State had already put up 34 points. Now comes the second test for the Buckeyes as they square off with Penn State this weekend.
Week 8- Penn State
4. Washington Huskies
The Huskies hosted the Ducks and College Gameday this past weekend and did not disappoint their fans as they are firmly in the driver seat for a conference championship and playoff spot after a 3-point victory over the Ducks of Oregon. Star quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has asserted himself as the Heisman favorite.
Week 8- Arizona State.
Clawing at the door
Oklahoma Sooners
After a dramatic win verse Texas, Oklahoma enjoyed the bye week. They are back at this week when they host new Big 12 opponent UCF.
Week 8- UCF
Michigan Wolverines
After a slow start verse Indiana, Michigan opened the floodgates and pounded the Hoosiers by 45 points. Unfortunately heading into a rivalry game at Michigan State, the only thing people are talking about is the cheating scandal that just broke against the Wolverines accusing them of stealing other teams plays.
Always something with this team.
Week 8- At Michigan State
Penn State Nittany Lions
Penn State enters the rankings after a beat down of Massachusetts. The Nittany Lions are undefeated basically because they haven’t played anyone yet. This week they head to Columbus to face the Buckeyes which will be their first test.
A win, and they will be in the driver seat to make the conference championship.
Week 8- At Ohio State
North Carolina Tar Heels
Drake Maye received one of the best receivers in the nation back last week in Devontez Walker and has thrown 7 touchdown passes in those games. He has now entered the Heisman race.
The Tar Heels look like they are on a collision course with the Seminoles of Florida State and another Heisman hopeful Jordan Travis.
Week 8- Virginia
