Moving the Chains: Takeaways from College Football 2026 – Week Eight

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Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith appears to be a lock for the Heisman.  However, if the committee voting for college football’s highest individual honor ever decides to expand eligibility to include the best tandem in the game, there would be no better opportunity to do so than this year.  The quarterback-receiver tandem of Darian Mensah and Malachi Toney are redefining excellence in their respective positions.  In a 52 – 23 #1 Miami win over Pittsburgh, Mensah completed 31 of 37 passes for 387 yards and 4 touchdowns (without an interception).  Toney was on the receiving end of 16 of his passes for 194 yards and 3 TD’s, demonstrating once again he is one of the best at evading tackles.

They may very well be the most dynamic duo since Batman and Robin.  Through 7 games they’re both made bold statements for the Heisman:  

• Mensah: 166 of 204 (81.4%), 22TD’s, 1 INT (20 carries for 73 yards and 2 TD’s rushing) 
• Toney: 66 receptions for 952 yards and 11 TD’s (3 carries for 50 yards rushing)   

#6 Indiana, after losing for the first time in almost two years last week to Ohio State, rebounded with a 13 – 6 overtime win over Michigan.  With just 11 first downs, it’s clear the Hoosiers’ offense is Missing the Magic of Mendoza: 2025 Heisman winner Fernando.  His successor, Josh Hoover, failed to complete a pass in the second half (although he did complete one to Michigan for his first interception of the season).  However, Hoover completed the pass that mattered most: the one he threw on the first play in OT that got them close enough for Hoover to run the ball into the end zone from 4 yards out for the game-winning score.  With the loss, Michigan dropped to 4 – 3 and will likely miss the playoffs in coach Kyle Whittingham’s first season in Ann Arbor.  

Speaking of Whittingham, the 10^th-ranked Utah Utes won their 8^th consecutive game, beating #14 Houston 21 – 13.   Since Morgan Scalley took over as head coach after Whittingham left for Michigan, Utah has won all seven of their games this season (as well as the Las Vegas Bowl at the end of last season) and is now the only team in the Big 12 still undefeated in conference play (4 – 0).  

Meanwhile,  #8 Texas Tech lost to Cincinnati 37 – 24 for their first Big 12 loss of the season.  

#9 UCLA sits atop the Big Ten with a 5 – 0 record in conference play after a 28 – 10 win over Michigan State.  #3 Ohio State, 4 – 0 in the Big Ten, was idle this week (next up: USC).  Also idle were #4 Notre Dame and #5 Georgia, with games next week against Navy and Florida, respectively.    

Continuing the tradition started last week when unranked Auburn and Florida beat ranked teams 27 – 24 with a last-second field goal, South Carolina beat #11 Tennessee with a last-second field goal by a score of – you guessed it – 27 – 24.

Texas A&M dropped to 1 – 4 in SEC competition with a 31 – 20 loss to #13 Alabama.  With the win, the Crimson Tide upped their conference record to 4 – 2.  #12 Kentucky, after a 34 – 17 win over Vanderbilt, sits atop the SEC with a 5 wins and just a single loss – to Alabama.  Georgia, at 4 – 1, could tie the Wildcats for the conference lead next week with a win over the Gators.  Meanwhile, Kentucky has the week off. 

After back-to-back 27 – 24 losses to Oklahoma and Florida, #19 Texas took out its frustrations on #7 Ole Miss 34 – 27, giving the Rebels their second loss of the season.  It wasn’t easy, as the Longhorns gave up a 21-point lead in the second half and almost blew a 10-point lead in the last two minutes after an Ole Miss field goal and a successful onsides kick led to a nail-biting finish that ended with a Texas interception of Trinidad Chambliss in the end zone. 

A quarterback spiking the ball on first down when the clock was already stopped – because of a time out called by his own team – in UCF’s game against #2 BYU was just the beginning of one of the most incredible finishes of the season.  There was a sequence at the end of the game that was so unbelievable it deserves its own paragraph.  It features what may be the longest sentence I’ve written:

UCF lined up for a game-winning field goal against #2 BYU on third down with 2 seconds left on the clock but the kick was blocked and recovered by the kicker who then had his helmet ripped off by an opposing player that resulting in the kicker having to sit out a play so a backup kicker had to attempt the second kick because it was still only fourth down but since UCF didn’t have a time out left to avoid a 10-second runoff (thanks to that helmet incident) so time ‘ran out’ and the game ended up in a 24-all tie.  

It was that kind of a game.  (Personally, I was hoping UCF would make the field goal, which would have been another 27 – 24 game – matching the precedent set by Auburn, Florida, and now Tennessee.)  Ultimately karma prevailed: UCF won the game in double overtime, 39 – 31.  BYU’s loss marked the second week in a row that the #2 team in the country lost; Notre Dame was the first.  The team that beat them, ironically, was BYU.   

With a 21 – 10 loss to Illinois, the Ducks’ record falls to 4 – 3.  In Oregon coach Dan Lanning’s first four years with the team they lost just 3, 2, 1, and 2 games, respectively.  As they were ranked 7^th in the preseason polls, it’s safe to assume Lanning is feeling the heat.  At a minimum, don’t be surprised if the offensive coordinator is looking for a job very soon: the Ducks have put just 42 points on the board in their last three games.     

The first two coaching casualties of the season took place this week.  On Thursday, Maryland showed Mike Locksley the door.  Locksley compiled an overall record of 39 – 54 in his 7+ years with the team.  Then two days later NC State fired Dave Doeren after a loss at Stanford.  Doeren compiled an overall record of 98 – 73 in 13+ seasons with the team, 10 of them with winning records.  Locksley’s termination didn’t come as a surprise.  However, Doeren’s did –  mainly because I thought Chuck Amato was still coaching at NC State.  

I did some research and found out NC State fired Amato two decades ago.  Maybe I should pay more attention to the ACC, especially since Miami is currently the nation’s top dog.  For now, anyway.  

Speaking of the ACC, Clemson was ranked #4 before the season began.  After a 20 – 16 loss to Virginia Tech, the Tigers now have the same record as Oregon: 4 – 3.  Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney may have just moved up to the head of the line as far as terminations go.

‘Not so fast,’ said #16 USC coach Lincoln Riley, whose Trojans lost to Wisconsin 24 – 7 and dropped his five-year record with the team to a less-than-stellar and certainly less-than-hoped-for 41 – 20.  Not only that, the 17-point loss is the largest ever for a ranked Riley team against an unranked opponent, and the 7 points is the fewest any of his teams ever scored in his decade as a head coach.    The patience of the Trojan faithful is about to run out.