FBS Week 8 Recap - Penn State, UNC Fall; Several Escape Upsets

October 22, 2023 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff

We knew something had to give when Ohio State and Penn State collided. We had no idea that 23.-5-point underdog North Carolina would fall at home to a 1-5 Virginia team.

Several highly-ranked teams were heavily challenged, but managed to rebound - as great teams do. Other continued to make their case for inclusion in the discussion about the best teams this season.

For instance, Air Force began its defense of the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy with a 17-6 win at Navy to move to 7-0. Earlier in the week, head coach Troy Calhoun said starting QB Zac Larrier would likely be "out for a while", but he not only started, he threw a school-record 94-yard pass. According to popular paper writer services, there is a long history of this great round-robin competition among the three academies. It continues with Army at Air Force on November 4, and ends with Army-Navy on December 9th at Gillette Stadium, the home of the New England Patriots in Foxborough.

The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions had a low-scoring, defensive affair in Columbus, but Marvin Harrison, Jr. shone through. While picking up the nickname "Maserati", Harrison had a haul of 11 catches for 162 yards and a crucial 18-yard TD reception that made 20-6 with 4:06 to go in the game. Penn State added a late score, but Ohio State recovered the onside kick to secure the 20-12 win.

That victory keeps Ohio State on pace with Michigan at the top of the B1G East with their showdown in Ann Arbor looming on Thanksgiving weekend.

Michigan, in the face of new allegations that they've been cheating, manhandled rival Michigan State in East Lansing 49-0. It's the 20th straight conference win since losing to the Spartans two years ago. An ESPN report named teamed analyst Connor Stalions as the culprit who allegedly scouted future opponents in person at games, an act which has been prohibited by the NCAA since 1994. The school announced on Friday that Stalions was suspended with pay while the NCAA conducts its investigation. That move came after Jim Harbaugh vehemently denied the allegations on Thursday by issuing a statement that included a comment that read, "I do not condone or tolerate anyone doing anything illegal or against NCAA rules."

The school handed Harbaugh a 3-game suspension to start the year in hopes the NCAA would take that into consideration for any penalties that might be handed down with regards to recruiting violations during a Covid-related extended "dead period" in 2021.

But let's get back to Saturday's action that saw a second undefeated program fall when North Carolina fell 31-27 at home to a Virginia Cavalier program that entered the game tied with Syracuse for last-place in the ACC.

Florida State managed to survive its home matchup with Duke by rallying to score 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter for a 38-20 win over the Blue Devils. Duke was trying to beat the 'Noles for the first time in 22 meetings and entered that game as one of three ACC teams that had yet to lose a conference game. Now, there is only the 'Noles. FSU even managed to top the 14.5-point spread.

Washington averted the upset when, with just over 8 minutes left, the Huskies returned an INT 88 yards for 12-7 lead when the Sun Devils could've possibly gone up 10-6 or more. A later FG made it 15-7 for the final score. To say it was an ugly victory would be an understatement as Washington was held to 13 yards rushing and committed 4 turnovers.

Oklahoma won the "Dillon Gabriel Bowl" - barely - as UCF failed to on its 2-point conversion attempt with 1:16 to go in the game after the 17.5-point underdog Knights had pulled to within 31-29. The Sooners covered the ensuing onside kick and that was that.

Texas also escaped potential overtime at Houston. On the possible game-tying drive, the Cougars were ruled to have come up short on what appeared to clearly be a 3rd-and-1 conversion. Houston then threw incomplete on 4th down as Texas held for the 31-24 win.

USC fell 34-32 at home to Utah on a 38-yard walk-off field goal, handing the Trojans a second straight defeat and all but completely wrecking the repeat Heisman hopes of Caleb Williams.

Alabama trailed Tennessee 20-7 at the half, but a 27-0 second-half onslaught turned the Tide into 34-20 winners. Leading 20-17 in the 3rd, Josh Heupel opted to try to convert a 4th-and-1 from the Vols' own 47-yard line which was stopped by the 'Bama defense and converted into 6 points and an Alabama lead just 5 plays later.

Idle This Week (3)

(1) Georgia, (13) Oregon State, (18) Notre Dame, (21) Louisville,

(SEE: Weekly Picks/Scores)

Undefeated Teams (9)

Eleven teams entered the week undefeated and, as pointed out, Penn State and North Carolina fell from that list. Here are the results of every game involving those 11 schools.

ACC
Won: Florida State, 7-0 (-14.5) by 14.76 vs. Duke - FSU won 38-20
Lost: North Carolina 6-1 (-23.5) by 31.82 vs. Virginia - UNC lost 31-27

B1G
Won: Michigan, 8-0 (-24.5) by 27.11 at Michigan State - Michigan won 49-0
Won: Ohio State, 7-0 (-4.5) by 3.09 vs. Penn State - Ohio State won 20-12
Lost: Penn State, 6-1 (see above)

Big 12
Won: Oklahoma, 7-0 (-17.5) by 7.18 vs. Central Florida - Oklahoma won 31-29

CUSA
Won: Liberty, 7-0 (-14.5) by 5.52 vs. Middle Tennessee - Liberty won 42-35

MWC
Won: Air Force, 7-0 (-10.5) 14.54 at Navy - The AFA won 17-6

PAC-12
Washington, 7-0 (-27.5) by 41.02 vs. Arizona State - Washington won 15-7

SEC
Georgia 7-0, idle

SUN BELT
James Madison 7-0 (-3.5) by 6.92 at Marshall - JMU won 20-9 at Marshall

Winless Teams (1)

We began the week with two remaining winless teams, but Nevada fell off that list with a 6-0 win at San Diego State. Here are the results of every game involving those 2 schools.

CUSA
Sam Houston 0-7 (-5.5) by 11.88 vs. Florida International - Bearkats lost 33-27 in 2 OT

MWC
Nevada 1-6 (+15.91) at San Diego State (-13.5) - Wolf Pack won 6-0

FBS vs. FCS

This season has 117 of the 133 FBS schools facing one FCS opponent, and Army playing two such games for a total of 118 FBS-FCS matchups.

Of the 16 FBS schools that do NOT play a FCS program, 7 are in the B1G (Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, Wisconsin). 6 more are evenly split between the Big 12 (Houston, Oklahoma, Texas) and Pac-12 (Colorado, USC, Washington). The other three are Liberty (CUSA) , UTSA (American), and Virginia Tech (ACC).

No FBS-FCS games were scheduled this past weekend, and none will take place this coming week.

The FBS programs are 106-4 this year against the FCS schools. Over-all, the FBS is a collective 1,792-152 (.922) since we began tracking this in 2003.

Here are the FCS wins in 2023, so far:
September 9: Idaho 33, Nevada 6
September 9: Southern Illinois 14, Northern Illinois 12
September 9: Fordham 40, Buffalo 37
September 16: Sacramento State 30, Stanford 23

Streaks - Current FBS Longest

GEORGIA - Won 23 straight home games, 24 straight over-all, and 13 straight true road games.
Last: 37-20 win at Vanderbilt on Saturday, October 14.
Next: After a bye week, plays Florida in Jacksonville on Saturday, October 28.

MICHIGAN - Won 20 straight conference games.
Last: 49-0 win at Michigan State on Saturday, October 21.
Next: After a bye week, hosts Purdue on Saturday, November 4.

NEVADA - Had lost 16 straight over-all, and 16 straight to FBS teams. Those streaks ended with a 6-0 win at San Diego State.
The school still owns an 8-game home losing streak, which is tied with UMass.
Last: 6-0 win at San Diego State on Saturday, October 21.
Next: Hosts New Mexico on Saturday, October 28.

SAM HOUSTON - Lost 9 straight over-all (7 since entering FBS).
Last: 33-27 home loss to FIU in 2-OT on Wednesday, October 18.
Next: Hosts UTEP on Wednesday, October 25.

UMASS - Lost 8 straight home games, 7 straight over-all.
Last: 63-0 loss at Penn State on Saturday, October 14.
Next: After bye week, visits Army on Saturday, October 28.

NORTHWESTERN - Lost 14 straight road games.
Last: 17-9 loss at Nebraska on Saturday, October 21.
Next: Hosts Maryland on Saturday, October 28.

NEW MEXICO - Had lost 14 straight conference games, but defeated Hawaii 42-21.
Last: 42-21 win home win over Hawaii on Saturday, October 21.
Next: Visits Nevada on Saturday, October 28.

ARIZONA STATE - Lost 8 straight conference games.
Last: Lost 15-7 at Washington on Saturday, October 21.
Next: Hosts Washington State on Saturday, October 28.