College Football Week 8 – First defeat for Texas, Alabama collapses – Play.it USA

Yet another weekend of college football, yet another show worth watching from start to finish of the day. Saturday was the day of great big matches, starting with the highly anticipated and very tense clash between Georgia and Texas, at the latter’s home ground.

The match started well for the hosts, who opened the ball with an interception which, however, was not exploited to the fullest. Subsequently, another interception, but by Georgia’s defense, brings the Bulldogs into the endzone, where they open the scoring with Etienne‘s run. The second quarter is an absolute domination by Georgia, which returns to king of the NCAA mode and ends the first half with a 23-0 lead, with another TD from Etienne and 3 field goals which reinforce the result.

The Longhorns head coach also tried to include reserve QB Arch Manning, who however was unable to do better than Quinn Ewers’ disastrous first half. The latter returns as a starter in the second half and, with a decidedly different attitude and grip, tries to restore the outcome of the match. The two fundamental balls thrown to Isaiah Bond, one for the touchdown and one for the two-point conversion, officially put Texas back in the game.

After a still doubtful referee review, the Texas defense recovered a fundamental ball which was closed with a TD by another protagonist of the Longhorns’ season, RB Jaydon Blue. However, Texas’ perfect third quarter was not replicated in the last, in which Georgia scored another TD with Trevor Etienne, which definitively put an end to Texas’ hopes of a comeback. 30-15 the final result for the guests.

Surprisingly, but not too much keeping in mind the match against Vanderbilt, Alabama also loses, which now finds itself in a truly complex and unusual situation by their standards. The opponents were the Tennessee Volunteers, a team that has shown several times this year that it can compete with the big teams.

The game only really lights up from the third quarter onwards, after a first half in which only Ryan Williams’ TD on Jalen Milroe’s pass stands out, probably the most successful duo in terms of throwing and receiving within the team. NCAA. A TD puts Tennessee back in the game, thanks to the run of the usual Dylan Sampson

A beautiful throw from Iamaleava to Thornton Jr from 55 yards then gives the Volunteers the lead, who then enter the endzone easily with Dylan Sampson’s run. The match is therefore at 14-10 for Tennessee. Alabama starts the last quarter well with another TD that momentarily puts them ahead, but Tennessee never pulled the plug on the game and, after a failed drive by Alabama, they regained the lead on Brazzell II’s 16-yard reception.

Milroe and his team still have time to try to respond in turn, but a throw that is crucial to the fate of the game is intercepted by Tennessee’s defense, which gives the Volunteers a victory that puts them fully back on track in the playoff race. This is Alabama’s second defeat of the season, which probably definitively ends the Crimson Tide’s playoff hopes.

Tennessee remains at 1 defeat, Alabama already at 2

The new solo protagonist in terms of only victories and no defeats is Oregon, which continues its triumphal march by beating Purdue 35-0. The guests’ defense was the absolute protagonist, giving practically nothing to the Boilmakers’ QB, who out of 19 throwing attempts completed less than half and also threw an interception. Dillon Gabriel continues to lead his team for the seventh victory in seven games. Next week there will be Illinois, a decidedly challenging opponent. Subsequently, however, the calendar will lighten up a lot, allowing, who knows, Oregon to close the championship in first place in the rankings and undefeated.

Even Miami wins again with great difficulty, another team with 0 defeats for now, despite the many matches suffered in recent games. LSU continues its excellent season and beats Arkansas 34-10. Iowa State’s win-no-loss streak also continues. Clemson and Notre Dame manage to beat Virginia and Georgia Tech respectively.

The Michigan Wolverines finally collapsed, collecting their third defeat of the season against Illinois.

The new ranking after week 8

After Texas’ defeat there would have been no doubt that first place would go to Oregon, at the top of the rankings for the first time this year. Georgia returns to second place, gaining three positions compared to last week. Penn State and Ohio State remain in the same positions, having rested this day. Texas instead ends up in fifth place, followed by Miami and Tennessee, which is back in the top ten. LSU remains in 8th, Clemson continues to rise, now at 9th. Iowa State closes the top 10. Alabama is a nightmare, even finishing at number 15. New entry in the Vanderbilt rankings, for the Commodores the position is 25th.

Oregon has become the new number 1 in the rankings. The Ducks are the fourth different team to fill the position this season

What does week 9 have in store?

Saturday will open with Ohio State, which hosts Nebraska. Notre Dame will instead visit Navy, in a challenge that promises to be fascinating. Indiana will host Washington at the same time. Number 1 Oregon will host Illinois at 9.30pm Italian time, at the same time Alabama will face Missouri. Also interesting will be Texas vs Vanderbilt, start time 10.15pm. On the night Penn State against Wisconsin.

Student in “Communication Sciences”, great NFL fan since 2020 and writer in his free time. I love the United States, for this reason I dedicated a personal blog (@Speaking of USA) to write articles about this splendid country.