This college football season we have been treated to two matchups of top-5 teams that have delivered instant classics. After Alabama held on to beat Georgia in a shootout a few weeks back, Oregon toppled Ohio State in a thriller last week thanks to a savvy purposeful penalty and a slide that was a second too late by Buckeyes QB Will Howard. Now, we are going to get our third top-5 showdown of the season in Week 8, as Georgia once again has to go on the road to face a top opponent in the SEC, this time traveling to Austin to face No. 1 Texas.
The Longhorns dominated last week against Oklahoma in the annual Red River game, while Georgia has looked a bit more human this season than we’re used to seeing them, most recently beating lowly Mississippi State by just 10 at home. We’ll find out if we get another top-5 thriller or if either team can make a more emphatic statement at the top of the SEC. That’s not the only ranked-on-ranked matchup of the week, though, as there are a handful of fascinating games up and down the schedule, as the meat of the college football season has been absolutely delivering this year.
The Game Of The Year (Of The Week): No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 1 Texas (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
A mildly desperate Georgia team looking to make a statement after losing their last high-profile SEC road game against Alabama. The No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns, which want to be the top dog in the toughest conference in America and are playing host to the team that has ran things in the SEC over the last few years. Under the lights, on ABC, Fowler and Herbie on the call. This is going to be a spectacle, and I am excited to clear my schedule to watch.
Everything in this game comes down to one thing: Can Georgia’s passing defense, which has been uncharacteristically leaky in recent games against Bama and, of all teams, Mississippi State, rise to the occasion against the Longhorn passing attack. Steve Sarkisian is one of the best offensive minds in the sport, and while Quinn Ewers looked a bit rusty last week against Oklahoma, Texas’ combination of a stellar offensive line and excellent skill position players is a huge pain in the neck for anyone to deal with. I’m very interested to see how much the Longhorns try to run it — Jalen Milroe did a great job of this against Georgia, but that is not Ewers’ game — but my hunch is they try to win it in the air.
On the other side, a sneaky interesting subplot is that Texas just has not played, well, anyone with a half-decent offense. The best opposing offense they’ve played this year is Oklahoma, which is 59th in offensive SP+. Georgia is sixth in that same metric, and I’m very interested in whether they try to put the pedal to the metal from the jump and test the Longhorn defense, especially after they had such a shambolic first half against the Crimson Tide. Keep Carson Beck upright and win in the trenches (a very difficult thing to do against Texas), and I think it’s possible the Dawgs really test Texas in a way they haven’t been all year.
Lock Into This One: No. 7 Alabama vs. No. 11 Tennessee (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
It’s the third Saturday in October, which means it’s time for the rivalry game affectionately known as the Third Saturday In October. This year’s game is especially interesting, as both of these teams could really use a win to stay in the Playoff picture and have both taken a step back after a scalding hot start to the year in recent weeks. Perhaps more interesting, the vaunted Vol offense and the usually-stingy Tide defense have not been up to their usual standards in recent weeks. The battle between Alabama’s offense (which got bottled up a bit by South Carolina in a scare last week) and Tennessee’s defense (which has been awesome this year) should be a strength-on-strength matchup, but this game very well might come down to whether Nico Iamaleava can get back on track after a couple of rough weeks to start SEC play.
Under-The-Radar Banger: Nebraska vs. No. 16 Indiana (12:00 p.m. ET, Fox)
Fun fact: The only P4 team to play an easier schedule than Indiana this year has been Nebraska. Both of these teams have gotten off to great starts to Big Ten play, and while there is a ton of buzz around the Hoosiers right now (it sure seems like they’ll get College GameDay next week for their game against Washington with a win), I’m very interested in a battle between them and Nebraska’s stingy defense. Matt Rhule has famously stunk in games against ranked opponents, too. Should be a fun one, with the winner emphatically staking a claim as the dark horse to watch in the Big Ten.
Message Board Meltdown Game Of The Week: No. 24 Michigan at Illinois (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)
Michigan is, somehow, still ranked at 4-2, but a loss here would be back-to-back losses on the road in conference play. That probably wouldn’t sit well with the folks in Ann Arbor, and there have already been frustrations with the fan base about what they believe is a team that’s not particularly well-coached. On the other side, the Illini almost lost to a bad Purdue team last week, needing to force OT and stopping a 2-point conversion to win 50-49. That took a little wind out of the sails for Illinois, and the buzz and excitement for the Illini turned into a bit of concern. If Illinois cannot beat this Michigan team to stay in the hunt in the Big Ten for at least another week, the folks in Champaign will start to wonder if they can ever get it done.
Who Won The Heisman Last Week?: Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State
There is only one possible answer this week, and it is Warren, who put up the following stat line in Penn State’s comeback overtime win over USC in Los Angeles: 17 catches (tied an FBS single-game record for a tight end), 224 yards, one receiving touchdown; one carry, four yards; 1-for-1, nine yards. On his one receiving touchdown, he started the play out as a center, snapped the ball, ran down the field, and Moss’d a defensive player. What a player.
Best Bet (3-3): Kentucky at Florida UNDER 42.5
I’m going back to the well with a Kentucky play this week after a no-doubter with our ‘Dores got us back to .500. The reasoning on the Under here is pretty simple, Kentucky wants to play as slow a game as possible and in their four SEC games this season the total has finished at: 37, 25, 37, 33. The Gators defense has shown signs of life the last two weeks against UCF and Tennessee, and with DJ Lagway now the guy under center with Graham Mertz’s injury, the Gators figure to run the ball a bunch an that’ll keep the clock moving and possessions down in this one.