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College Football

College football's Week 8 winners and losers

Florida State Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher.

Florida State won 22 games in a row at home before falling to Clemson, the eventual national champion, last October. Since that Saturday the Seminoles have lost five of eight at Doak Campbell Stadium. What was once one of the most dominant home-field advantages in the sport has become anything but.

After losing 31-28 to Louisville, dropping their record to 2-4, the Seminoles are in danger of missing a bowl game for the first time since the 1981 season — which would snap the longest active postseason streak in the sport. It’s been a stunningly rapid fall for a team that entered 2017 viewed as one of the leading title favorites in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Check out how things can change in just six games: FSU has gone from a potential College Football Playoff participant to a team that may struggle to get to bowl eligibility. Blaming the injury to quarterback Deondre Francois in the season opener against Alabama is way too convenient of an excuse.

The Seminoles are a mess on the field, as we’ve seen, and the scene outside the white lines isn’t much better. After Saturday’s loss, FSU coach Jimbo Fisher responded to a heckling fan by saying, “walk your (rear end) down here and say it.” 

It’s already ugly in Tallahassee. It may get worse. Now two games under .500, the Seminoles must win four of five to reach the postseason. One game, against Delaware State, is a win. But the other four — Boston College, Syracuse, Clemson and Florida — are toss-ups at best, with a road game at Clemson almost certainly a loss.

What happened to FSU? Maybe the issues aren’t too grand; maybe the Seminoles bounce back in 2018. But to go from No. 3 in the preseason to potentially outside of bowl play paints the Seminoles as one of the biggest flops of the century, alongside 2000 Alabama, 2005 Tennessee and 2010 Texas on a list no one wants to join.

Here are the rest of Saturday’s winners and losers:

WINNERS

Iowa State. So it seems like this Matt Campbell guy can coach. A few weeks after stunning Oklahoma on the road, Iowa State notched its third win in a row in Big 12 Conference play with a 31-13 dismantling of Texas Tech. Campbell, once of Toledo, has the Cyclones on pace for a bowl trip — and is headed for a nice raise in the offseason.

Army. The Cadets’ 31-28 comeback win against Temple was their sixth on the year. Shortly after the win, Jeff Monken’s group became the first team in the FBS to accept a postseason invitation: Army will play in the Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 23 against an opponent from the Big Ten Conference or Conference USA.

Central Florida. The Knights maintained their unbeaten record with a 31-21 win at Navy. That’s the team’s second impressive league win on the year, joining September’s lopsided victory against Memphis. UCF is looking like one of the top two teams in the Group of Five, and second-year head coach Scott Frost’s stock is soaring.

Boston College. Break up the Eagles. After going eight years without scoring 40 points in a game, B.C. has now done so two weeks in a row. After outscoring Louisville a weekend ago, the Eagles swamped Virginia 41-10 to even their record at 4-4.

Rutgers. And while we’re at it, let’s break up the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers’ 14-12 win against Purdue gave it two wins in a row in Big Ten play for the first time since joining the league in 2014.

Texas. OK, stay with me here. Texas is not a place that happily accepts moral victories. Yet the Longhorns should nonetheless take some pride in their defensive performance this entire season and on Saturday against Oklahoma State in particular. While falling 13-10 in overtime stings, UT was the first team to hold the Cowboys under 20 points since it did so in 2014. And when you think about the Tom Herman era altogether, that the defense is filthy is a great sign – because his track record suggests these offensive woes won’t continue forever.

Todd Graham. Arizona State’s embattled head coach may have worked his way off the hot seat by leading the Sun Devils to wins against Washington and Utah. The latter, a 30-10 rout on the Utes’ home field, suggests that ASU could challenge for eight wins during the regular season. Doing so would bring Graham back in 2018.

Oklahoma. Every win counts as OU tries to weave its way through the rest of Big 12 Conference play unscathed. In that sense, it’s hard to find too much wrong with OU’s 42-35 win against Bill Snyder and Kansas State. There are still some warning signs to consider, especially as you weigh the Sooners against the best of the best in the FBS. What happened to the defense? What happened to playing a complete game? Think about the past three weeks: first that loss to Iowa State, then a narrow win against Texas, and then another close call Saturday against the Wildcats. The Sooners need to regain their stride.

Penn State. Any question about whether Penn State was deserving of the No. 2 spot in this week’s Amway Coaches Poll — or whether the Nittany Lions were one of the four best teams in the country — were put to bed in a 42-13 win against Michigan. The Saquon Barkley-led offense is fantastic. The defense might be even better. Penn State is for real.

Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish’s 49-14 whopping of Southern California was great news for two programs: Notre Dame itself, obviously, and Georgia, which topped the Irish 20-19 in September. It’s probably time to consider the Irish a true contender for the Playoff. Those two new coordinator hires are paying off in spades. The offense is powerfully physical on the ground and the defense hugely improved; combined, that’s the mix that has Notre Dame surging.

LOSERS

Tennessee. No one expected the Volunteers to beat Alabama, let alone hang close. The Tide were favored by five touchdowns for a reason. That doesn’t make a 45-7 loss any easier to swallow. The Volunteers have gained a combined 574 yards in their last three games against Alabama. The Tide had 604 yards against Tennessee on Saturday afternoon alone. The countdown toward Butch Jones’ dismissal and the ensuing coaching change continues.

Big Ten West Division. This division has Wisconsin on top — and the Badgers are a Playoff threat — followed by six average-to-worse teams. All you need to know about the West is that Nebraska is currently in second place; the Cornhuskers aren’t good. This is the worst division in the Power Five. The West makes the SEC East Division look like a murderer’s row of national title contenders.

MORE:Miami holds off Syracuse 27-19 to move to 6-0

MORE:Michigan State continues feel-good start by surviving Indiana

MORE:No. 20 UCF beats Navy 31-21 for first 6-0 start

North Carolina. The disaster continues for UNC, which fell behind Virginia Tech 28-0 at halftime and seemed ready to do anything but play a football game against one of the top teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference. It’s one thing to lose — bad games happen, let alone bad seasons. But the Tar Heels got shoved by the Hokies and quit. Now 1-7, UNC should be embarrassed.

Kentucky. The 45-7 loss to Mississippi State revealed Kentucky to be a pretender even in an SEC East Division that’s wide open after Georgia. The loss was only the Wildcats’ second on the year, so they’ll still manage to get into the postseason. But Kentucky was never as good as its record indicated during the first half.

Willie Taggart. The Ducks’ new man earned praise for piloting Oregon to a solid start in September, including a non-conference win against Nebraska that has lost most of its luster with the Cornhuskers’ collapse. Saturday’s loss at UCLA evened the team’s record at 4-4, which in the big picture isn’t a big deal: Oregon shouldn’t have expected much more than a bowl trip. But on the heels of a good start, the Ducks’ quick slide to the bottom of the Pac-12 Conference North Division is disappointing.

Michigan. What’s wrong with the Wolverines? How about everything? We knew the offense was a trash fire. Now the defense looks questionable after being torn to shreds by Penn State. Now 5-2, Michigan is now playing for pride and a nice bowl game. That’s not what was expected in Jim Harbaugh’s third season. The program has not progressed as scheduled.

Southern California. Yikes. The loss to Notre Dame revealed the Trojans as pretenders. That’s a tough pill to swallow for a program that had eyes on a national title after closing the 2016 season on a tear. But maybe it’s not such a shock. After all, there had been signs throughout the first seven weeks, such as turnovers and occasional defensive lapses — that USC was not as good as originally believed. Saturday’s loss confirms those fears, and then some.

 

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