Fansided

College football scores: Takeaways for every Top 25 team after Week 8

By Patrick Schmidt

EAST LANSING, MI - OCTOBER 20: Donovan Peoples-Jones #9 of the Michigan Wolverines catches a second half touchdown and avoids the tackle of Tre Person #24 the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium on October 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - OCTOBER 20: Donovan Peoples-Jones #9 of the Michigan Wolverines catches a second half touchdown and avoids the tackle of Tre Person #24 the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium on October 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next
Alabama Crimson Tide, Tennessee Volunteers
(Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /

College football scores and takeaways for every Top 25 team, including another demolition effort by Alabama and a stunning loss by Ohio State.

More than a quarter of the AP Top 25 had the week off as their bye week came right after the halfway point of the season. If you’d ask coaches and players across the country when they’d prefer to have an open week, it could be this weekend.

While it’s great for the players to rest up from the battles they’ve been in over the previous seven weeks, it does leave for a bit of a thin weekend for fans to devour games.

That said, the college football scoreboard for Week 8 wasn’t as robust as it normally would be with six of the AP Top 25 teams not playing a game this weekend.

No games mean no takeaways, but there were still 19 other ranked teams in action this weekend, including No. 1 Alabama who made quick work of Tennessee in their rivalry game that is a one-sided one because the Crimson Tide have now won 12 straight vs. the Vols.

College football scores: Takeaways for the Top 25

1. Alabama (W 58-21 vs. Tennessee) – Tua Tagovailoa showed no ill-effects from a knee injury that knocked him out last week. The Heisman front-runner threw for 306 yards and touchdowns to four different receivers. Alabama also ran for four touchdowns as the top scoring offense poured it on against the Vols for their 12th straight win in this one-sided rivalry. Alabama has yet to be tested, but they might after their bye week when they take on LSU in Baton Rouge in two weeks.

2. Ohio State (L 49-20 vs. Purdue) – For the second week in a row, the No. 2 team lost. Ohio State was totally dominated by Purdue on the road and made one-dimensional. Dwayne Haskins threw for a ton of yards (48 of 72 for 468), but the Buckeye run game was non-existent, the red zone offense shot itself in the foot too many times and critical penalties opened the door for Purdue to build a big lead. It’s just one loss, but this one loss could be as damning as last year’s 55-20 loss to Iowa that kept Ohio State out of the Playoff.

3. Clemson (W 41-7 vs. NC State) – Trevor Lawrence set new career-highs in completions (26), attempts (39) and yards (308) as the Tigers knocked off undefeated NC State in a laugher. Travis Etienne didn’t get a lot of yards (39) but reached the end zone three times. He’s got a chance at being a Heisman finalist. Clemson is at Florida State next week as Dabo Swinney’s team looks to avoid a hangover against a really average at best Seminoles team.

4. Notre Dame – Idle. Next: Vs. Navy on Oct. 27.

5. LSU (W 19-3 vs. Mississippi State) – Nothing special from the LSU offense as Cole Tracy had to drill four field goals but the defense certainly was special. The Tigers defense had four interceptions and only allowed eight completions from Nick Fitzgerald. This was total domination by the defense. The downside is All-American linebacker Devin White was ejected for targeting in the fourth quarter and he’ll have to sit for the first half vs. Alabama. That’s brutal.

Home/College Football