College Football Rankings: B/R's Top 25 After Week 8

Week 8 of the 2022 college football season ended up being a great one for ranked teams who got out to a slow start at home.

That trend began in earnest in the early game between AP No. 14 Syracuse and No. 5 Clemson. In a turnover-filled afternoon, the Tigers fell behind 21-7 in the second quarter and still trailed by 11 late in the third when Dabo Swinney made the decision to pull QB D.J. Uiagalelei and let true freshman Cade Klubnik run the show.

Klubnik didn't do much as a passer (19 yards on just four attempts), but he did have the great fortune of getting hit out of bounds by Elijah Fuentes-Cundiff on what should have been a drive-ending scramble. Instead, that automatic first down shifted all the momentum in Clemson's favor, as the Tigers subsequently went on a 17-0 run to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

In the next slate of games, No. 11 Oklahoma State also fell behind No. 20 Texas by two touchdowns in the second quarter, but the Cowboys rallied and scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, benefitting from a missed field goal and a pair of late Quinn Ewers interceptions to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.

And then in the nightcap, No. 8 TCU dug itself a 28-10 first-half deficit against No. 17 Kansas State before reeling off 28 straight points. Kendre Miller (29 carries, 153 yards, 2 touchdowns) led that charge as the Horned Frogs managed to remain one of the nation's six final undefeated teams.

As such, we ended up with a drama-filled day, but one that only featured one upset. And, as we'll get to shortly, LSU beating No. 7 Ole Miss wasn't even an upset as far as Vegas was concerned.

How does it affect the rankings heading into Halloween weekend?

Bleacher Report's college football experts—Adam Kramer, Kerry Miller and Brad Shepard—each submitted a Top 25 ballot at the conclusion of play.

And, well, movement was fairly minimal this week.

Oregon and Ole Miss swapped spots at Nos. 8 and 12, and LSU vaulted into the Top 25 at No. 18. But aside from that and 7-1 Liberty making its 2022 debut in our Top 25 after throttling BYU, things look pretty similar to one week ago.

That said, some teams looked hotter than others, and you'll want to read on to see some parallels between Ohio State's victory over Iowa and something the Jameis Winston-led Seminoles did back in 2013.

Bleacher Report's Post-Week 7 Top 25:

1. Ohio State (Previous Week: 1)
2. Tennessee (2)
3. Georgia (3)
4. Michigan (4)
5 (tie). Clemson (5)
5 (tie). TCU (7)
7. Alabama (6)
8. Oregon (12)
9. Oklahoma State (10)
10. USC (11)
11. UCLA (9)
12. Ole Miss (8)
13. Penn State (16)
14. Wake Forest (13t)
15. Utah (15)
16. Syracuse (13t)
17. Illinois (18)
18. LSU (NR)
19. Cincinnati (19)
20 (tie). Kansas State (17)
20 (tie). Kentucky (21)
22. North Carolina (22)
23. Tulane (25)
24. Liberty (NR)
25. NC State (NR)

Others Receiving Votes: Arkansas, Maryland

Don't look now, but is Bo Nix a top-five candidate for the Heisman Trophy?

And are the Oregon Ducks skyrocketing back into the College Football Playoff conversation?

Flash back to Labor Day weekend and both of those would have been downright laughable suppositions. Nix threw two interceptions within the first 18 minutes of the opener against Georgia, which Oregon lost 49-3.

If ever there was a case for a team being eliminated from the CFP mix and a player removed from the Heisman board in Week 1, that was it.

Since then, however, Nix has been masterful and the Ducks unstoppable.

They entered this week's showdown with No. 9 UCLA having scored at least 40 points in five consecutive victories, averaging 49.8 points over that span. Nix completed 73.8 percent of pass attempts with 12 passing touchdowns and eight rushing touchdowns against just one turnover. (Granted, it was a horrific turnover on a first-down pass that went for a 95-yard pick six for Washington State. But, still, just one big mistake over the course of five games.)

That continued in a 45-30 victory over the Bruins.

Nix was basically perfect, completing 22-of-28 pass attempts for 283 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed eight times for 51 yards, including twice picking up a first down on fourth and short and effectively ending the game with a 13-yard scramble on third and 12 late in the fourth quarter.

On each of Oregon's first seven possessions, Nix led the Ducks on a scoring drive (one field goal; six touchdowns) that went at least 53 yards. It wasn't until midway through the fourth quarter with Oregon's win all but assured that the Bruins defense finally got a stop.

That brings his total during this six-game winning streak to 25 total touchdowns with one interception.

Not too shabby.

No. 10 Oregon is going to climb multiple spots in the next AP poll and certainly should win its next two games against California and Colorado. If that happens, the Ducks would enter the home stretch against Washington, Utah and Oregon State possibly ranked in the AP Top Five with Nix as one of the top challengers to C.J. Stroud for the Heisman.

We're not going to sit here and pretend to be shocked that No. 7 Ole Miss lost at unranked (but second among others receiving votes) LSU.

The 7-0 Rebels weren't even favored against the 5-2 Tigers.

How quickly and emphatically the worm turned on Lane Kiffin and Co., however, was astounding.

Ole Miss started out the game by marching down the field and into the red zone on three consecutive possessions. Quinshon Judkins found the end zone on the first two drives and the Rebels settled for a short field goal on the third, after which they led 17-3 just a few seconds into the second quarter.

From that point forward, though, Ole Miss was outscored 42-3 in an embarrassing 45-20 loss.

Tigers QB Jayden Daniels was sensational. He completed 21-of-28 pass attempts (to eight different receivers) for 248 yards and two touchdowns. But it was the 23 carries for 121 yards and three touchdowns that just demoralized Ole Miss, leaving the defense consistently looking helpless.

Defense isn't what got Ole Miss to No. 7 in the AP poll, though. It allowed 27 points to Tulsa, 28 points to Vanderbilt and 34 points to Auburn, each of whom might end up not even qualifying for a bowl game this season.

Rather, it was the offense that had been great through the first 7.25 games of the season, and it was the disappearing act by that offense, which caused this game to snowball out of control.

After going at least 61 yards on each of its first three possessions, Ole Miss only had one drive of more than 45 yards the rest of the way. And even that lone "good" drive resulted in a devastating interception.

It was after that pick that LSU really started pouring it on, taking what was a four-point lead and racing out to a 25-point victory.

Given how wide the margin got by the end, it will be interesting to see if Ole Miss remains ranked ahead of LSU heading into Week 9. Wouldn't be that surprising to see something like No. 15 LSU and No. 16 Ole Miss when the new AP poll drops on Sunday afternoon.

Prior to Saturday, the most recent team to put up at least 54 points while accumulating 360 or fewer yards of total offense against an FBS opponent was Florida State in a 59-3 victory over Wake Forest in November 2013.

In that game nine years ago, eventual Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston had a rare unproductive afternoon. But the eventual undefeated national champions cruised to victory thanks to a defense that forced seven turnovers and allowed just eight first downs and one field-goal drive.

In Ohio State's 54-10 rout of Iowa, it felt like déjà vu all over again.

Heisman frontrunner C.J. Stroud racked up four passing touchdowns by the end of the afternoon, but he got out to a brutal start. He was strip-sacked for a Hawkeyes touchdown in the first quarter. He couldn't lead a touchdown drive on any of Ohio State's four first-half possessions that began in Iowa territory and then threw a pick on the first play of the third quarter.

Yet, because of the combination of Ohio State's great defense and Iowa's horrific offense, the outcome was never in doubt.

The Buckeyes forced six turnovers, allowed just eight first downs and never once let Iowa take a snap deeper than the OSU 28.

The last time these teams met, Iowa shocked the world with a 55-24 upset of the sixth-ranked Buckeyes in 2017. Before that, Ohio State won by 10 in 2013 and by a field goal in each of 2009 and 2010.

You have to go back to 2006 to find the last time Ohio State comfortably defeated Iowa and much further to 1975 to find Ohio State's last win by at least 35 points in this conference rivalry.

Nevertheless, Stroud and the defense asserted their dominance, winning by at least 29 points for a sixth consecutive game. If that trend continues in next week's road game against Penn State, it might finally be time for the AP voters to vault this team to No. 1.

First things first: Sound the *Ranked Teams Playing on a Weeknight* alarm!

In the past seven weeks, there had only been two such games (No. 19 BYU on Sept. 29; No. 15 Washington on Sept. 30), but we'll get both No. 23 NC State hosting Virginia Tech and No. 15 Utah playing at Washington State this Thursday. They will be nice alternatives to whatever unwatchable Thursday night game the NFL is running that week.

On Saturday, the clear-cut headliner is No. 2 Ohio State at No. 16 Penn State (Noon ET on Fox). The Buckeyes have played just one game away from the Horseshoe thus far this season, in which they capitalized on a woeful Michigan State secondary. Could this hostile environment and better defense provide some legitimate resistance to Ohio State, or will the rampage to the College Football Playoff continue?

The second-best game of the week is a toss-up between No. 11 Oklahoma State at No. 17 Kansas State and No. 19 Kentucky at No. 3 Tennessee. The Big 12 clash figures to be the more competitive game, but that SEC East rivalry could shake up the CFP picture. The road team has won the Kentucky-Tennessee game in each of the past three seasons, so watch out, Vols.

Speaking of the SEC East, we've got to at least mention the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. However, we're not optimistic about a nail-biter between No. 1 Georgia and unranked Florida. In the storied history of that rivalry, there have been seven instances in which one team was ranked in the AP Top 3 and the other was unranked, and the ranked team has gone 7-0 with an average margin of victory of 36.4 points.

Elsewhere, No. 7 Ole Miss, No. 8 TCU, No. 10 Oregon, No. 12 USC and No. 13 Wake Forest all play on the road against unranked teams, which could provide at least one major shake-up in the New Year's Six bowls picture.

Last but not least, huge one in the AAC with No. 21 Cincinnati traveling to UCF. The Knights got smoked 34-13 by ECU in Week 8, but they could get right back into the three-team mix (along with No. 25 Tulane) for the two spots in the conference championship by holding serve at home against the Bearcats.