Bleacher Report
Oregon is the new No. 1 team in the Associated Press Top 25 poll after Texas suffered its first loss of the 2024 college football season.
The Longhorns failed to protect their home field and were on the wrong side of a 30-15 final score against Georgia. The Bulldogs, who slipped to fifth following their earlier defeat the hands of Alabama, moved up to second and leapfrogged Penn State and Ohio State in third and fourth respectively. Texas rounded out the Top Five in fifth.
Indiana was a big riser, climbing up from No. 16 to 13th after hammering Nebraska 56-7, with the Hoosiers running their record to 7-0.
Texas at least managed to things close in the second half after falling behind 23-0 by halftime. Things were bad enough through the first two quarters that head coach Steve Sarkisian replaced Quinn Ewers with Arch Manning at quarterback.
Ewers returned and threw a pair of touchdown passes in the third quarter to bring the Longhorns to within eight points.
Georgia responded with an 11-play, 89 yard drive that culminated in a one-yard touchdown run for Trevor Etienne. Texas’ last three drives ended in a fumble and two turnovers on downs as the Bulldogs defense took over in the fourth quarter.
Georgia fans might’ve reset their expectations for the season when the Dawgs lost to Alabama and then put together less than inspiring performances in wwins over Auburn and Mississippi State.
Even after this week, it’s tough to fully get a read on Kirby Smart’s squad. The defense held Texas to 259 yards, forced three turnovers and got seven sacks. Quarterback Carson Beck threw three interceptions, though, and the offense went 6-of-17 on third downs.
This looks to be a more flawed Georgia compared to Smart’s two national championship winners.
The Bulldogs at least still have a clear path to the College Football Playoff. The same can’t be said for Alabama, after a 24-17 loss to Tennessee dropped the Crimson Tide to 5-2. The second of Jalen Milroe’s two interceptions foiled the Tide’s comeback bid inside the final two minutes.
Kalen DeBoer is increasingly looking like a prime example of why you don’t want to be the person who succeeds a coaching legend.
Seven games into his tenure in Tuscaloosa, people are already noticing a departure from the Nick Saban era.
The Tide went 7-6 in Saban’s first season in 2007, a year that included a loss to Louisiana-Monroe. The program was obviously on much stronger footing when DeBoer was hired, but Saban didn’t have to deal with the transfer portal when he arrived.
DeBoer will need time and patience to succeed at the level fans and boosters are demanding. Whether he’s afforded that is a different question.
The two big results in the SEC aside, Week 8 didn’t feature many other consequential outcomes.
Illinois capitalized on Michigan’s three turnovers to win 21-7 despite only gaining 267 yards. That was the only other matchup between ranked teams.
Otherwise, the week’s theme was Top 25 teams staving off upset bids.
A pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter helped Miami stay perfect against Louisville. Rocco Becht’s one-yard touchdown run with 30 seconds left lifted Iowa State to a 38-35 win over UCF. Missouri overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half to take down Auburn 21-17.
The SEC boasts two of the more intriguing Week 9 battles.
Missouri hits the road to play Alabama, and a home loss to the Tigers could lead the criticism against DeBoer to hit a fever pitch. Texas A&M hosts LSU in a matchup of one-loss teams with little margin for error when it comes to the playoff.
In the Big Ten, Illinois hits the road to play Oregon, a game that will allow the Fighting Illini the opportunity to prove their 6-1 start is for real.
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