Joel Klatt

Senior College Football Analyst

The College football The season continues to deliver.

Saturday gave us another week full of exciting action with lots of great games. We also had another top-five matchup where previously fifth-place Georgia defeated the previously ranked No. 1 seed Texas in Austin, 30-15.

When matchups like Georgia-Texas become much more common, it’s hard to argue against superconferences and the expansion of the College Football Playoff, right? What’s even better is that there are still plenty of meaningful matchups left this season due to expanded conferences and playoffs.

Here are my top 10 teams in college football after Week 8 of the season:

1. Oregon (Last week: 2)
Record: 7-0
Result week 8: Defeated Purdue 35-0

Just 2.5 years into his tenure at Oregon, Dan Lanning has this Ducks #1 in my poll. I’m not surprised either. I’ve been saying for a while now that if there’s one young coach I could buy stock in, it’s Lanning. Oregon was in full swing against Purdue on Friday and any early-season problems seemed to be a thing of the past.

#2 Oregon Ducks vs. Purdue Boilermakers Highlights

2. Georgia (Last week: 4)
Record: 6-1
Result week 8: Defeated Texas 30-15

Watching Georgia’s win over Texas live, it felt like this Bulldogs tore them apart Longhorns. It seemed like Texas didn’t have much of a chance in this game, even after its comeback attempt. However, when you turn on the movie, it’s never as bad as you think, and it’s never as good as you thought it was when you saw the game live.

That was the case in Saturday’s game. The film showed that Georgia was doing better, but not significantly better. The film showed two elite defensemen playing incredibly while both offenses struggled most of the time. Texas had a little more trouble, but that was mostly at the line of scrimmage. Georgia was really good at the line of scrimmage and seemed very comfortable in the uncomfortable environment. It reminded me why Georgia has won 51 straight games against non-Alabama teams. Georgia was a machine and that’s how it plays defensively. The Bulldogs defensive line had a great night against Texas and made no mistakes. That was the difference in this game. Georgia is really good on defense, guys.

However, I wasn’t overly impressed with Georgia’s offense. At the top end it’s a bit of a problem because there aren’t many outside threats that are consistent and provide much separation. Georgia’s offensive line has been playing pretty well and will soon get healthier so they can run the ball better than they did on Saturday. But Georgia had just 283 yards rushing on three turnovers, while only one of its scoring drives was longer than 35 yards. Carson Beck has also thrown eight picks in his last four games. So it’s not all for Georgia.

Georgia DB Daylen Everette (6) had an interception and a forced fumble in the win over Texas, causing two of the four turnovers that led to the Bulldogs’ win. (Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

3. Ohio State (Last week: 3)
Record: 5-1
Result week 8: idle

Ohio State was overtaken by Georgia as the Bulldogs became the No. 1 team in the country and defeated them. Ohio State’s only blemish this season, however, is its one-point loss to Oregon. This team is arguably still the most talented in the country.

4. Penn State (Last week: 4)
Record: 5-1
Result week 8: idle

The Nittany Lions remain at No. 4 after their bye week. I was really impressed with Penn State in its last game, an overtime win against USC. James Franklin and Drew Allar seemed to have a lot to prove in this game.

5. Texas (Last week: 1)
Record: 6-1
Result week 8: Lost to Georgia, 30-15

Texas’ mistakes in Saturday’s game were magnified because they occurred where the opponent could take advantage. Texas’ offense put their defense in bad situations a few times in this game. There was a three-possession stretch where the game ended for Texas in the first half when Quinn Ewers lost a fumble on one drive and threw an interception on another. It seemed like the stage was too bright for the Texas offense. They made little mistakes that you can’t make.

As for the quarterback situation, what happened Saturday between Steve Sarkisian, Arch Manning and Ewers was a case study in a coach who understood that his team and his quarterback (to some extent) over four football series were completely shocked, and he had to change what was going on. To me, it wasn’t necessarily that he replaced Ewers with Manning, but rather that he needed his starting quarterback to calm down for a moment. He needed a spark. But if Manning had played well after entering the game, Ewers knew Manning would have stayed in the game. Sarkisian was fine with this outcome as he was trying to walk a fine line.

Texas Longhorns: Was the overturned PI call a bad call?

Sarkisian knew Ewers wasn’t playing right in the first half of Saturday’s game, and his decision to rest him worked because he played much better in the second half. Going forward, Ewers is the starter as long as Sarkisian says it as adamantly as he has said it. Ewers should be better in this game and Texas will advance better because of it.

Texas and Georgia are the two best teams in the SEC. I hope we see them play again.

6. LSU (Last week: 8)
Record: 6-1
Result week 8: Defeated Arkansas 34-10

After losing to USC in Week 1, LSU has gotten better and better. LSU won decisively at Arkansas, which defeated Tennessee just two weeks before. I’ve said before that I liked what quarterback Garrett Nussmeier did this season tiger. LSU has an important contest against Texas A&M on Saturday that could determine a spot in the SEC Championship Game.

LSU RB Caden Durham scored three touchdowns in its win over Arkansas. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

7. Clemson (Last week: 6)
Record: 6-1
Result week 8: Defeated Virginia 49-31

Clemson’s offense continued its streak of dominance following its Week 1 loss to Georgia. Since that loss, they’re averaging nearly 50 points per game as quarterback Cade Klubnik and offensive coordinator Garrett Riley have really figured things out. Clemson only lost one spot because I was so impressed with LSU.

8. Tennessee (Last week: Unranked)
Record: 6-1
Result week 8: Defeated Alabama 24-17

Although Tennessee got a big win against Alabama, here are my thoughts Volunteers haven’t really changed much. Tennessee is a top defense, can run the ball well and has major problems in the passing game. Nico Iamaleava made some plays in Saturday’s game that I liked. I thought the games with his legs were some of his best moments. If Josh Heupel and his team can get Iamaleava up to speed more, that could help the quarterback, because I think he’s at his best when he’s running out of the pocket to make explosive plays. However, I’m still worried about the lack of consistent passing.

Alabama Crimson Tide: Will the Tide make the 12-team playoffs?

Seeing what Georgia did to Texas, it’s hard to imagine Tennessee beating Georgia on November 16th unless things change. But if this is Tennessee’s only other loss this season, it should be for a playoff spot.

9. Indiana (Last week: Unranked)
Record: 7-0
Result week 8: Defeated Nebraska 56-7

If you had questions about whether Indiana is for real, this team answered them on Saturday.

Indiana picked up its biggest Big Ten win since 1945 against a 5-1 Nebraska team that I really appreciated. The Hoosiers have the highest scoring offense in the country and we are nearing the end of October.

I love what Curt Cignetti did in Bloomington. Indiana is an incredibly well-coached team, and he might have set a blueprint for other teams in the country to follow when he prioritized production over potential in the transfer portal. Many of the players he brought in had already played dozens of games, including many of Cignetti’s last stint at James Madison.

Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. No. 16 Indiana Hoosiers highlights

Quarterback Kurtis Rourke has played incredible football this season. At this point in the season he would be my Offensive Player of the Year in the Big Ten. He won’t play against Washington next week after suffering a finger injury against Nebraska, so hopefully this ailment won’t sideline him for long.

Indiana’s offense is so much fun to watch and the offensive line is doing a great job. In Saturday’s game, it dominated Nebraska’s front line, scoring five rushing touchdowns against a defense that hadn’t allowed a single one this season.

Looking at Indiana’s schedule, the Hoosiers could realistically go 11-1 and make it into the first 12 teams in the playoffs. I’m really impressed with Cignetti, especially after meeting him and calling one of his games.

10. Miami (Florida) (Last week: 10)
Record: 7-0
Result week 8: Defeated Louisville 52-45

Miami’s offense is great. Cam Ward will clearly be a Heisman finalist and could potentially win the award. But the defense scares me. I continue to drop Miami because you can’t keep playing with fire like this. At some point Ward will have a game where he can no longer be Superman.

Joel Klatt is FOX Sports’ lead college football game analyst and host of the podcast.The Joel Klatt Show.“Follow him around @joelklatt And Subscribe to The Joel Klatt Show on YouTube.

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