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College football 2018: Week 8 heroes and villains

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Roar Guru
21st October, 2018
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Another college football weekend is in the books, and it was another one full of big results, both good and bad.

Let’s take a look at who covered themselves in glory and who didn’t, with Week 8’s Heroes and Villains.

Heroes
Purdue: a miracle in Lafayette. A remarkable game that no one saw coming. The Boilermakers didn’t just beat Ohio State, they took them out to the woodshed, dominating everywhere a team can dominate. The 49-20 win has to be just about the biggest upset of the year.

This performance from the team that started the season 0-3.

Shea Patterson
The Michigan quarterback’s 6-yard strike to Nico Collins made him the first Wolverine to have a passing touchdown against in-state rival Michigan State since 2011, as Jim Harbaugh’s men recoded a 21-7 win over the Spartans, their seventh straight win on the season after an opening-night loss to Notre Dame. The Thanksgiving weekend game against Ohio State shapes as a play-in for a playoff spot.

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Washington State: a huge day in Pullman with College Game Day in town. Lee Corso picked the Cougars to win, and they did. Up 27-0, they withstood an Oregon comeback. The Ducks got to within 27-20 before QB Gardner Minshew shored things up for WSU with a 22-yard touchdown to Dezmon Patmon for a 34-20 win. Huge night for Mike Leach’s men.

Nebraska: finally the Cornhuskers have their first win under Scott Frost. And it was an emphatic one, thumping Minnesota in Memorial Stadium 53-28. Dual threat quarterback Adrian Martinez was the star, accounting for four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) amongst 398 yards of total offense, allowing Husker Nation to breathe a large sigh of relief.

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Louisiana State: the Tigers beat Mississippi State 19-3 for their fourth win over a Top 25 opponent this year. That’s more than any other FBS team.

Tua Tagovailoa: the Alabama quarterback has three games this season where he’s thrown four touchdowns and eclipsed 300 passing yards. That’s the most in one season, and prior to 2018, there’d only been four such games in the long, storied history of Crimson Tide football.

Brett Rypien: the Boise State quarterback eviscerated Colorado State’s defence on Friday night on the blue turf, going 22-26 for 308 yards and four touchdowns. That’s a completion percentage of 84.6.

Iowa: third straight win for the Hawkeyes, shutting out Maryland 23-0.

Army: the Black Knights made a huge double overtime defensive stop right on the goal line to beat Miami of Ohio.

Tyler Huntley: the Utah quarterback had a big night against USC, going 22-29 for 341 yards and 4 touchdowns in the Utes win.

North Dakota State: the all-conquering FCS Bison triumphed over Illinois State in the showdown of the top two teams in the Missouri Valley conference, scoring the first 28 points and coasting home from there for a 28-14 win. Quarterback Easton Stick had 207 passing and 70 rushing yards.

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Air Force: the Falcons beat UNLV 41-35 for their first Mountain West conference win of the season, rolling up a monumental 572 yards of total offense.

Central Florida: the Golden Knights were without star quarterback McKenzie Milton, but it hardly mattered. Remaining undefeated, they thumped East Carolina 37-10 and appear headed for a Thanksgiving weekend showdown with cross-state rivals South Florida, perhaps with both schools coming in undefeated.

Utah’s defense: held USC to 205 yards of total offense in a 41-28 win over the Trojans that was far less close than the scoreboard would suggest.

Villains
Cincinnati
: Luke Fickell’s men fell from the ranks of the unbeaten after a 24-17 loss to Temple.
Minnesota: the Golden Gophers were blown out 53-28 on the road by a 0-6 Nebraska team.

Rutgers: another loss, this time on homecoming to Northwestern, despite mostly outplaying the Wildcats. The Scarlet Knights have Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State and Michigan State left, it’s looking like a 1-11 season in Piscataway.

Nick Fitzgerald: an ugly night for the Mississippi State quarterback who at one stage in the game against LSU had more interceptions than he did completions. His final state line in the 19-3 loss wasn’t much better, 8-24 for 59 yards with 4 interceptions and zero touchdowns.

Ohio State: it seems that the Buckeyes are good for one epic meltdown a year. They were thumped on a rainy day in Iowa City a season ago, and lost to Purdue in shocking fashion, 49-20. I’ve thought for some time that the Buckeyes aren’t as good as their ranking would suggest – especially on defense – and the result Saturday night indicates the same.

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Oregon: probably not a good idea to spot a team like Washington State a 20-point lead. It was always going to be tough going for the Ducks to get back into the fight from that margin. They made a go of it, but ultimately fell short.

After last week’s big win over Washington, this was a heavy return to earth moment for Mario Cristobal’s team, especially with the lead of the Pac-12 North Division on the line.

North Carolina State: a 41-7 flogging at the hands of Clemson put an end to the Wolfpack’s undefeated season. Unlucky for Dave Doeren’s men that they had to be the ones against whom Clemson played their best game of the season.

Maryland: 115 total yards of offense won’t cut it. That’s all the Terps managed against Iowa.

Clay Helton: the USC coach is in for a long week after the Trojans, up 14-0, lost meekly on the road. 41-28. It seems certain now that the school isn’t going to win a national championship with Helton and the current coaching staff in place.

Changes need to be made, and will likely be demanded by a very restless fan base. This might be the beginning of the end for Helton, a nice guy who has been in over his head since the beginning, and saved from earlier trouble by Sam Darnold.

Dwayne Haskins: the Ohio State quarterback threw for nearly 500 yards in the big loss to Purdue on Saturday night, but didn’t find the end zone until the fourth quarter. That won’t cut it, and you can pretty much say goodbye to his Heisman candidacy.

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Especially if you compare his performance to the flawless Tua Tagovailoa, who tore it up for Alabama, again. Rough day all around for Buckeyes.

Alabama: the Tide are here because I like a little variety in my college football, and Nick Saban’s men aren’t giving it to us.

Is there anyone who can stop them? Maybe Clemson, but even that is perhaps a stretch. With everyone around them stumbling over the last two weeks, and short of an absolute miracle, there’s a very good chance that the Tide are going to stink up the college football championship again.

Alabama versus Tennessee

Tennessee running back Tim Jordan (9) is tackled by Alabama defensive lineman Isaiah Buggs (49) (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

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