A Heisman Trophy candidate throws his teammate under the bus, Penn State coach auditions don’t go so well and Group of Five playoff hopefuls stumble. So yeah, there was a lot going on in Week 8 of college football. Here’s the worst of it:
Carson Beck
The Miami quarterback threw four interceptions in the Hurricanes’ 24-21 loss to Louisville on Friday night. While Beck’s first interception was a ridiculous defensive play by Antonio Watts, the ball was thrown into triple coverage. His fourth pick was with 32 seconds left and Miami driving at the Cardinals’ 30-yard line. To make it even worse, Beck blamed his receiver for the game-ending mistake. He wants you to know there was a communication error, just not on his end.
Dude.
Beck finished 25-of-35 for 271 yards, no TDs and those four picks as the second-ranked Canes now need some help to even make the ACC Championship game.
Matt Rhule’s Penn State audition
One of the most-popular names linked with the vacant Penn State job, Rhule is known for being an offensive guru. If Friday was a job interview, consider it offensive. Minnesota was missing two of its top three cornerbacks, so Dylan Raiola should have cooked. Welp. The Cornhuskers managed just two field goals and 213 yards in Minneapolis, and the Golden Gophers sacked Temu Patrick Mahomes nine times.
“We were just kind of out of whack the whole day,” Rhule said afterward. ‘At no point did we make the play we needed to make to win the game.’
It was the first time Nebraska hadn’t scored a touchdown in defeat since a 62-3 loss to Ohio State in 2016.
“Six points is pretty brutal,” Raiola said.
Indeed.
UNLV
How about another prospective Penn State candidate? Urban Meyer has been stumping for Dan Mullen to get a look at State College. I’m sure Mullen’s Rebels appreciated that pitch. UNLV entered Saturday unbeaten and the third-highest ranked Group of Five team, putting it in the playoff mix. The Rebels lost 56-31 to Boise State, which opened the second half with four straight touchdowns. The Broncos, who are now 3-0 in Mountain West play, ran for 294 yards — led by Dylan Riley’s 201 yards (13.4 per carry).
Thanks, Urban!
Luke Fickell
No one expected Wisconsin to beat No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday. Very few thought they’d even give the Buckeyes a game. But man, make ’em sweat a little. The Badgers never left their sett (look it up) and lost 34-0, marking the first time the Badgers have been shut out in back-to-back home games since 1968. Under Fickell, Wisconsin has been toothless vs. ranked teams (0-9) and are sinking like a stone.
Wisconsin has lost its past nine Big Ten games with eight coming by double digits.
The Badgers haven’t scored a touchdown in 11 quarters.
Wisconsin had nine first downs Saturday and 144 yards total offense.
Badgers QB Hunter Simmons had 54 yards passing. Fifty-four.
Fittingly, Wisconsin plays at Oregon next because Fickell is a lame duck. And soon-to-be-ranked-No. 2 Indiana is still on the Badgers’ schedule. Last year was the first year Wisconsin hadn’t been to a bowl since 2001. Last time it hadn’t made a bowl in consecutive seasons? ‘Baby Got Back’, white men couldn’t jump and ‘Real World’ introduced us to reality TV (1992).
Memphis
The Tigers entered Saturday unbeaten and the top-ranked Group of Five playoff hopeful (No. 20). They were playing UAB, who just fired coach Trent Dilfer and named Alex Mortensen (Mort’s son) interim. Memphis was a 23.5-point favorite. Guess what happened… Mort’s Blazers pulled off the second-biggest upset of the season (UCLA beat Penn State despite being a 24.5-point dog). But it didn’t come without some drama. Memphis had 1st-and-goal from the 1 with a chance 45 seconds left and a chance to tie. The 1!?! Here’s how the sequence unfolded:
False start
5-yard pass just short of goal line
False start
Incomplete pass
Incomplete pass
Delay of game
Incomplete pass
‘He would be excited for our team and program,’ Mortensen told ESPN when asked about his late dad. ‘He covered football for a long time. He’s always sensitive to coaches losing their jobs. I know he would understand how hard it was what these guys went through this week.’
A nice moment, at Memphis’ expense.
Texas Tech
This was a Flop 10 play-in game. At one point, Arizona State was ticketed here after giving up a 12-point fourth-quarter lead in a flash. The Sun Devils led 19-7 with 3:57 left. By the 2-minute mark, they were trailing 22-19. But not to be outdone, the Red Raiders shot themselves in the foot, too. It’s worth mentioning Tech played without starting QB Behren Morton. But the Raiders had a lengthy list of miscues: an interception, a punt blocked, a roughing the passer on 3rd-and-goal and two turnover on downs, including one at the ASU 8-yard line. And then after the Raiders finally took the lead, Tech surrendered a 10-play, 76-yard drive in 1:26 as Sam Leavitt engineered a game-winning drive. Unbeaten no more, Tech still has a cake schedule, with only BYU a real threat, so its playoff hopes aren’t dead, but they’ll want this one back.
Purdue
That early-season optimism after a 2-0 start under first-year coach Barry Odom has vanished with five straight losses, the latest a 19-0 loss at Northwestern on Saturday. The Boilermakers are still better than they were last season under Ryan Walters, but the recent struggles are only amplified by what’s happening further south in the state. If Indiana wins a football national title before Purdue wins one in basketball… I don’t think Boilers fans will ever hear the end of it.
Boston College
Believe it or not, there’s a bigger train wreck in the ACC than what’s happening in Chapel Hill. Bill Belichick’s season has been a disaster. His former Patriots assistant’s season is a disaster wrapped in a debacle. Bill O’Brien’s BC team is awful. The Golden Eagles are 1-6 after a home loss to UConn and sit 0-4 in league play with Louisville, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame still on the schedule. FUN!
O’Brien seems out of answers.
Rutgers
The Scarlet Knights (3-4, 0-4 in Big Ten) had the unenviable task of having to play a ticked-off Oregon team. Rutgers actually scored first, turning a Ducks fumble into three points. Then Oregon ran off the next 56 points on its way to a 56-10 win, which included a 42-3 halftime lead. After the Ducks offense struggled in its loss last week to Indiana, it was in high gear Saturday in Piscataway. Oregon racked up 750 total yards. That’s 335 passing and 415 rushing. That’s playing Madden on rookie.
“You might be historically the first to play football, but you’re actually last in football,” Mathew Selby, an Oregon native who attends Rutgers as a doctoral student in nutritional sciences, told the Asbury Park Press. “When everybody thinks of Rutgers, they have an image of leather helmets. Baby, this is 2025. We’re playing tennis and you’re on pickleball… I will say this about Rutgers. It has a great science program.”
Washington State
OK, so on consecutive trips out east looking for an opponent, the Cougars put a scare into a ranked opponent. Last week, it was Ole Miss. On Saturday, it was Virginia. Wazzu led by 10 with 10 minutes remaining, but found a creative way to lose. After the Cavaliers scored to make it a three-point game with 9 minutes left, the Cougars next possession looked like this:
Rush for no gain
False start
False start
Holding
7-yard run on 2nd-and-27
Interception
UVA tied it with a field goal with three minutes left. Then things got weird with Wazzu’s Leyton Smithson calling a fair catch at the 2-yard line on the kickoff. A false start pushed the ball to the 1-yard line and a play later Kirby Vorhees was tackled in the end zone for the game-winning safety. Final: Virginia 22, Washington State 20.
‘Lost control there at the end. That’s on me,’ said Washington State coach Jimmy Rogers. ‘All of this is on me.”
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