Our college football midseason awards, plus Week 8 viewer guide

Posted by Admin October 17, 2024 Football

Until Saturday Newsletter 🏈 | This is The Athletic’s college football newsletter. Sign up here to receive Until Saturday directly in your inbox.

We’ve seen a few exciting games already this week.

New Mexico State (2-5) beat Louisiana Tech (2-4) in double-overtime on Tuesday. And on Wednesday, Sam Houston (5-2), which had been crafting an underrated success story in its second FBS season, lost 31-14 to Western Kentucky (5-2). Now, let’s get into the rest of the weekend’s schedule. And later … midseason awards!

Week 8 Viewer Guide

Friday night lights

The action heats up on Friday with two ranked matchups (all times in ET).

No. 2 Oregon (6-0) at Purdue (1-5) (8 p.m., Fox). The Boilermakers are struggling — No. 123 nationally in total defense and No. 106 in total offense — but played within one point of No. 22 Illinois last week. Oregon shouldn’t be as vulnerable as long as the Ducks avoid a post-Ohio State hangover (they’re four-touchdown favorites after all).
Oklahoma State (3-3) at No. 13 BYU (6-0) (10:15 p.m., ESPN). Mike Gundy’s Cowboys haven’t won since Sept. 14 while BYU has climbed the polls. When these teams met last November, the Cowboys won in a double-OT thriller. This time around, the Cougs are the 9.5-point favorites.

Saturday’s schedule

Here is this week’s heat map for every matchup with a ranked team. The darker the shading = the higher the intrigue.

Early

Most important game: Nebraska (5-1) at No. 16 Indiana (6-0). Curt Cignetti’s undefeated Hoosiers are the talk of the town. IU is projected as an 11-seed in the CFP per The Athletic’s model. None of Indiana’s wins are against teams above .500, and those teams have a combined record of 14-23. This QB matchup will be one to watch between IU’s seasoned vet Kurtis Rourke and Nebraska’s freshman sensation Dylan Raiola. In his second year as Nebraska’s coach, Matt Rhule said, “This is as big of a game as we’ve probably ever played.” Who would’ve thought he would be talking about Indiana-Nebraska?
Most underrated game: No. 6 Miami (6-0) at Louisville (4-2). The Canes are coming off a bye week after two uncomfortably close wins against Virginia Tech and Cal. In both games, Miami allowed its opponents to build early halftime leads before falling back on the heroics of transfer QB Cam Ward — he is first in the FBS in total offense (396.6 yards per game) and passing TDs (20) and is second in passing yards (2,219). Louisville is no easy out either, and I expect a high-scoring — and high-flying — matchup between the top two receivers in the ACC (Miami’s Xavier Restrepo and Louisville’s Ja’Corey Brooks). Miami is a five-point favorite.

Afternoon

Most important game: No. 7 Alabama (5-1) at No. 11 Tennessee (5-1). Alabama and Tennessee would rather forget their Week 6 upsets to Vanderbilt and Arkansas. And now is the perfect time to get their respective CFP cases back on track. The Vols haven’t scored in the first half of either of their last two games. Getting the offense going will be an aspect to watch, but the key matchup is between Alabama’s offense, more specifically Ryan Williams’ playmaking ability, and Tennessee’s defense, which ranks second nationally. And Bama is favored on the road in this rivalry game.
Most underrated game: Colorado (4-2) at Arizona (3-3) (4 p.m., Fox). Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan leads the Big 12 in receiving yards and averages more than 100 yards per game. If McMillan gets going again, the Buffs will have to turn to their superstar, Travis Hunter, who coach Deion Sanders said he expects will play after Hunter injured his shoulder against Kansas State last week.

Night

Most important game: No. 5 Georgia (5-1) at No. 1 Texas (6-0). When these teams last met in the 2019 Sugar Bowl, both were on the brink of something special but hadn’t clicked yet. Now, the pieces have come together to make this an all-time SEC matchup. Texas QB Quinn Ewers had a few shaky moments against Oklahoma last week and will need to get back into rhythm after his oblique injury. He’ll be against Georgia’s Carson Beck, who should lead the Bulldogs’ efforts against the country’s No. 1 team. The Longhorns are 4.5-point favorites.
Most underrated game: North Texas (5-1) at Memphis (5-1) (7:30 p.m., ESPNU). How about a little G5 action for the nightcap? It’s time for a rematch of last year’s epic 45-42 Memphis win against the Mean Green. North Texas is No. 5 nationally in total offense behind TCU transfer QB Chandler Morris (who is tied for first nationally in TD passes with Ward). On the opposing side, Memphis has leaned on its defense and linebacker Chandler Martin, who is tied for an AAC-leading four sacks. I’ll also be watching Kentucky at Florida (7:45 p.m., SECN), which looks like a must-win for the 3-3 Gators before embarking on a four-game stretch against Georgia, Texas, LSU and Ole Miss.

Check out the complete Week 8 schedule.

Need tickets? Go here. Stream the games on Fubo for free.

Midseason Awards

Did you know Ryan Williams is 17?

Happy midseason! The “Until Saturday” podcast dispersed its “Middies” today. Here are two of the categories and my thoughts on the winners. (You can listen to the full discussion here.)

“He’s playing there now?” award to the best transfer portal player. Nominees: Cam Ward (Incarnate Word-Washington State-Miami); Diego Pavia (New Mexico State-Vanderbilt); Kurtis Rourke (Ohio-Indiana); Dillon Gabriel (UCF-Oklahoma-Oregon). The crew picked Pavia, the fifth-year QB who has rewritten Vandy’s legacy from the SEC’s easy out to the Alabama upsetters. Don’t ignore Pavia individually either: He ranks in the top 10 nationally in passing efficiency. His impact is more than deserving of this award.

“This isn’t Nick Saban’s Alabama” award for the most repetitive media narrative. Nominees: Big Ten and ACC coast-to-coast travels; CFP is expanded and more teams are live; Ryan Williams is 17; Ohio State spent millions on its roster. The crew picked Williams … have you heard he is only 17? I didn’t have to look far back to find CFB’s last 17-year-old player. Ole Miss QB Austin Simmons reclassified from the Class of 2025 to 2023 to join the Rebels as a 17-year-old last season. He didn’t see any playing time … in football that is. Simmons is also a left-handed pitcher and made 13 relief appearances with a 3.21 ERA. Notable: His baseball appearances came after his 18th birthday.

Listen to the “Until Saturday” podcast here. Plus, read Bruce Feldman’s midseason superlatives awards (from breakout star to wildest storyline) here.

Best Bets

A Big 12 upset

Until Saturday Upset Special (2-4): Arizona State 27 (+5.5), Cincinnati 24

Both teams are coming off one of their most significant wins of the season (Cincinnati’s 19-13 result against UCF and ASU’s 27-19 upset of Utah). Arizona State’s task gets harder with starting QB Sam Leavitt out and backup Jeff Sims in, but the Wildcats have a strong rushing attack they should fall back on (fourth in the Big 12 with 211.1 yards per game). The Bearcats are favored at home, but their defense has had trouble all season and is allowing 164.8 yards on the ground per game. I’m picking Arizona State to pull off an ugly win behind RB Cam Skattebo’s heroics.