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Fifty-seven games are on the docket this week, and four of those have already taken place as we continue 55 straight days of football.
There are 21 teams enjoying a bye week, including Army, Clemson, Georgia, Iowa State and Tennessee.
On Tuesday, Sam Houston was a 10-7 winner at FIU as the Bearkats (6-2) clinched bowl eligibility and the Panthers (2-6) were brought to the brink of elimination.
Also on Tuesday, Louisiana Tech was a 14-10 winner at home over UTEP.
Last night, the newest FBS member picked up its first victory as Kennesaw State pulled off the 27-24 upset of previously undefeated Liberty. Meanwhile, Jax State scored a 42-20 home win over MTSU.
Thursday:
Georgia Southern at Old Dominion
Syracuse at Pittsburgh
Friday:
Boise State at UNLV
Louisville at Boston College
Rutgers at USCMust-See Week 9 Games
SEE: Complete schedule and picks.
Notre Dame and Navy have previously met 94 times. This is the biggest one in the modern era of the rivalry.
In a rare occurrence, the Irish and the Midshipmen are both ranked at the same time. While that was expected from ND, which has impressively won five straight since the Week 2 gaffe to Northern Illinois, that was not the case for the Naval Academy. Navy has been one of the best stories of the season so far, rolling behind the Blake Horvath-led offense and an underrated D. The Mids can simultaneously end Notre Dame’s playoff hopes while improving their own postseason resume Saturday afternoon at MetLife Stadium.
After Texas lost to Georgia, Oregon is the nation’s new No. 1 team. The Ducks will debut their pole position by hosting No. 20 Illinois Saturday afternoon.
Oregon took care of business in its first game after the massive Ohio State win, blanking Purdue, 35-0. The Fighting Illini will present a bigger challenge at Autzen Stadium. Illinois keeps creeping up in the polls, with its only loss coming to Penn State at Happy Valley. Under Bret Bielema, the Illini are showing a penchant for adapting to whatever circumstances they encounter. Two weeks ago, Illinois needed 50 points and OT to escape Purdue, but the D stepped forward last Saturday to stifle Michigan in a key 21-7 home win.
Vandy bows to no one this year. Just ask Alabama.
This is not your father’s Commodores. Not with QB Diego Pavia sparking the offense, the program, and the entire city of Nashville. Vanderbilt is 4-0 at home and ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2013. The Dores will not sneak up on anyone, not after the way they beat Bama at the beginning of the month. Texas will be ready for this first meeting between the schools in almost a century. The Longhorns can ill-afford a stumble, not after last week’s loss to Georgia that ended a perfect season. The Horns were whipped at the line of scrimmage by the Dawgs, so their focus and motivation will be sky-high in Week 9.
Two of the hottest teams in the SEC, if not the country, meet Saturday night at Kyle Field for a game with massive conference and CFP consequences.
The Aggies and Tigers both lost on the opening weekend… and have not fallen since. Someone’s six-game winning streak will end in College Station, while someone else will catapult in the polls. LSU is on a particularly nice tear, including recent wins over Ole Miss and Arkansas in a blowout. Garrett Nussmeier is working his way into the Maxwell Award discussion, and the defense has played well for new coordinator Blake Baker. The home team has won seven straight in this series, so the historical edge goes to A&M in this pivotal tilt.
The Maxwell Football Club honors the nation’s best player with the Maxwell Award. CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove is a member of the voting panel.
Here’s a look at some of last week’s standout performances on offense.
In the AAC game of the week, Memphis survived a wild shootout with North Texas, 52-44, to remain in the top tier of league contenders. Anderson was a problem all night for the Mean Green, rushing for 183 yards and four scores on 22 carries. It was the most yards and touchdowns in a single-game for the first-year Tiger who began his career as a South Carolina Gamecock.
Through seven weeks, no one has slowed the Army offense, which has produced at least 42 points in four straight games. The undefeated Black Knights jumped all over East Carolina in a 45-28 victory. Daily had another monster day on the ground, rushing for 171 yards and a single-game academy record five touchdowns. He also kept the Pirates honest by completing 7-of-10 for 147 yards and another TD.
Somewhat overlooked in LSU’s six-game winning streak and rise in the polls is that the ground game is led by a rookie. Durham, a true freshman out of Oklahoma City, has filled a void for an offense that was missing a feature back when the season started. In Saturday’s impressive road win over Arkansas, he ran 21 times for 101 yards and the first three-touchdown game of his Tiger debut.
The Bruins travelled cross-country to snap a five-game losing streak and capture the school’s first-ever Big Ten win. Behind a prolific all-around performance from Garbers, UCLA held off Rutgers in Piscataway, 35-32. The senior from Newport Beach deftly completed 32-of-38 for 383 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions. Garbers also added a team-high 48 yards and an additional score on the ground.
Well, that sure came clear out of nowhere. Baylor, which was winless on the road and in Big 12 play this season, went into Lubbock and handed Texas Tech its first conference loss of the year. And convincingly, too, 59-35. Robertson, a Lubbock native, was throwing darts in the upset win, completing 21-of-32 passes for 274 yards and a career-high five TD passes, three to WR Josh Cameron.
Turner kicked off the scoring Thursday night against visiting Georgia State, and he ended it with a game-sealing 88-yard explosion as the Herd won, 35-20. The big-play junior from Hampton, Va. turned just 16 touches into 207 total yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns. Through seven games, Turner is averaging a remarkable 10.1 yards per carry.
In a pivotal Thursday night showdown with Boston College, the Hokies held serve at home to move above .500. Tuten was the star of the 42-21 win, showing off his blazing speed to NFL scouts who made their way to Blacksburg. The 5-11, 208-pound senior raced for a school-record 266 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries, adding a fourth score on a pass from Kyron Drones.
Miami and Louisville went toe-to-toe for 60 minutes, with the Canes remaining undefeated, 52-45. Ward was once again unflappable in a tight pressure-cooker, engineering 538 yards of total offense to answer an equally terrific day from Cardinals QB Tyler Shough. Ward added another entry to his Maxwell Award resume by completing 21-of-32 for 319 yards and his third game of at least four TD passes this season.
The Maxwell Football Club honors the nation’s best defensive player with the Chuck Bednarik Award. CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove is a member of the voting panel.
Here’s a look at some of last week’s standout defenders.
There were doubts whether Bryant would be healthy enough to play this weekend. Houston sure hoped he’d be a scratch. Bryant, in fact, did play and showed NFL scouts why he’ll have a long career on Sundays. In the Jayhawks’ first Big 12 win of the season, the senior had three stops, a tackle for loss, and tied a school record with three interceptions, becoming the first Kansas player to do it since 1958.
Doyle, who has had stops at Texas A&M and Jackson State, has found a home with Barry Odom in Las Vegas. The 6-3, 255-pound native of St. Louis had his best game as a Rebel in Saturday’s 33-25 win over Oregon State in Corvallis. Doyle was a consistent force off the edge with 10 tackles and three of his team’s six sacks.
The Gamecock defense put on a show Saturday in Norman, pummeling Oklahoma, 35-9, to move above .500. South Carolina produced 13 tackles for loss, nine sacks, six forced fumbles, four takeaways, and two defensive scores in the first six minutes. Emmanwori’s contributions to the assault included a team-high 11 tackles, one stop for loss, and two interceptions, one he returned 65 yards for a touchdown.
The Fighting Illinois passed their biggest test of the season, stifling defending Big Ten champion Michigan, 21-7, to move to 6-1. Illinois didn’t get much from the offense, but didn’t need it after pitching a second-half shutout. Jacas, who’s best known for his pass-rushing skills, was a terror against the run. He set a new personal-best with 13 tackles, which included 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a pair of hurries.
The Bulldogs inched above .500 with Friday’s 24-21 win over Nevada in Reno. Langley keyed the defensive effort that slowed a Wolf Pack attack that averaged over 40 points in the previous three games. The sixth-year senior from Los Angeles tied a career high with 13 tackles, two of which were sacks of Nevada QB Brendon Lewis.
Picked to finish 11th in ACC preseason polls, Duke moved to 6-1 in Manny Diaz’s debut after defeating Florida State Friday night, 23-16. The Blue Devils allowed just 2-of-14 third-down conversions and kept the Seminole offense out of the end zone. Nicholas, a grad transfer from Princeton, had his best game in Durham, making nine tackles and getting in on two takeaways, a forced fumble and a 29-yard interception return.
Uh-oh, now the Navy defense is finding the end zone as well. The unbeaten Midshipmen rolled Charlotte this past Saturday, 51-17, to move to 6-0. QB Blake Horvath and the offense sparked a 24-0 first quarter before the defense took it from there. Peele nearly outscored the 49ers on his own, making three stops, one sack, and returning two interceptions for long pick-sixes of 61 and 84 yards.
In the biggest game of Week 8, Walker was the best player on the field as Georgia made a statement with an upset of top-ranked Texas in Austin. The 6-2, 245-pound junior turned heads Saturday night, relentlessly terrorizing the Longhorn tackles, even when he was matched with future first-round pick Kelvin Banks. Walker did most of his damage in the opening half, when the Dawgs jumped out to a 23-0 halftime lead, and finished with eight solo tackles, three sacks, a fumble recovery, and four quarterback hurries.
The Maxwell Football Club supports former Alabama and Seattle Seahawks star RB Shaun Alexander in annually naming the top college freshman.
Youth is being served in Gainesville, where the Gators are feeling a sense of optimism entering their bye week. Florida hammered visiting Kentucky Saturday, 48-20, using an all-true freshman backfield of Baugh and QB DJ Lagway. Starting for the first time this season in place of injured Montrell Johnson, the 6-1, 227-pound Baugh ran 22 times for 106 yards and five touchdowns. The five scores tied the single-game school record at Florida.
No FBS-FCS games were played last week for the fourth straight week. One such game takes place this Saturday when Wagner visits UMass.
FBS schools are 108-6 in such games this season, and a collective 1,908-158 (.924) since we began tracking this in 2003.
In 2024, there are 121 scheduled scheduled matchups between FBS and FCS schools with 119 schools playing one such game, while Hawaii and UMass each play two.
This year, 15 schools do not play a FCS opponent and 5 are in the B1G (Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, USC and UCLA). Texas is the only school in the SEC that will not play a FCS program. The same is true for Virginia Tech in the ACC. In fact, Texas and Virginia Tech, along with Michigan and Houston, are repeats from last year's list of schools that played all FBS programs.
2024 FCS wins vs. FBS:
August 24: Montana State 35, New Mexico 31
September 7: St. Francis (PA) 23, Kent State 17
September 7: Idaho 17, Wyoming 13
September 7: Southern Utah 27, UTEP 24 (OT)
September 21: Monmouth 45, FIU 42
September 28: UT-Martin 24, Kennesaw 13
In 2023, FBS schools were 114-4. These were the FCS wins last year:
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
ARMY - Won 11 straight overall.
Last: Won 45-28 at home over East Carolina on Saturday, October 19.
Next: After a bye week, Army hosts Air Force on Saturday, November 2.
LIBERTY - Won 17 straight regular season games.
Last: Won 31-24 at home over FIU in overtime On Tuesday, October 8. It was the first game for the Flames in 17 days after serving a bye week and an unexpected off week when the game at App State was scratched due to Hurricane Helene.
Next: After a bye week, visits Kennesaw State on Wednesday, October 23 (15 days after their last game).
GEORGIA - Won 28 straight home games.
Last: Won 30-15 at Texas on Saturday, October 19.
Next: After a bye week, plays Florida in Jacksonville on Saturday, November 2.
TULANE: Won 15 straight conference games.
Last: Won 24-10 at home over Rice on Saturday, October 19.
Next: Visits North Texas on Saturday, October 26.
TEXAS: Won 8 straight true road games (at opposition venue).
Last: Lost 30-15 at home to Georgia on Saturday, October 19.
Next: Visits Vanderbilt on Saturday, October 26.
UTEP - Had lost 7 straight home games.
Last: Won 30-21 at home over FIU on Wednesday, October 16.
Next: Visits Louisiana Tech on Tuesday, October 22.
KENT STATE - Lost 16 straight over-all. Lost 11 straight conference games. Lost 7 straight home games.
Last: Lost 27-6 at Bowling Green on Saturday, October 19.
Next: Visits Western Michigan on Saturday, October 26.
STANFORD - Lost 11 straight home games to FBS foes.
Last: Lost 40-10 at home to SMU on Saturday, October 19.
Next: Hosts Wake Forest on Saturday, October 26.
TEMPLE - Lost 17 straight true road games.
Last: Won 20-10 at home over Tulsa on Saturday, October 19.
Next: Visits East Carolina on Saturday, October 26.
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Rich Cirminiello is the VP of College Awards at Maxwell Football Club. He can be followed on Twitter at @Rich Cirminiello