Is Week 8 the best weekend of the 2025 college football season so far?
The second half of the season kicks off with five matchups between ranked teams and a host of other intriguing games. Even Friday night has the potential for entertainment with Louisville visiting No. 2 Miami and a North Carolina team looking for something positive to happen on the field while heading across the country to visit Cal.
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The third weekend of October should deliver. Here’s what to watch in Week 8.
No. 10 LSU at No. 17 Vanderbilt
Welcome to the 2025 college football season. Vanderbilt is favored over LSU and it’s not a shock. The Tigers have won 10 straight over the Commodores; Vanderbilt has a chance to win on Saturday for the first time since a 24-21 victory in 1990.
The Commodores have had an off week to prepare for the game following their loss to No. 6 Alabama in Week 7. Alabama made Vanderbilt pay for Diego Pavia’s two red-zone turnovers. His first-half fumble came with Vanderbilt up 7-0 and led to Alabama tying the game. His interception in the fourth quarter happened as Vanderbilt was attempting to take a 21-20 lead.
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LSU beat South Carolina 20-10 in Week 8 and has still not scored more than 23 points against an FBS opponent all season long. Garrett Nussmeier threw two interceptions for the first time all season against the Gamecocks, but also had just his second game of the season with more than one TD pass. We’re still not sure if Nussmeier is totally healthy after suffering a torso injury during fall camp.
As LSU has struggled to pile up points this season, Vanderbilt has one of the most efficient offenses in the country. Vandy averages 7.6 yards per play and still averaged over six yards every snap against the Crimson Tide. However, Ty Simpson picked the Commodores’ secondary apart for 340 yards. Can Nussmeier take advantage? LSU may need to stretch the field.
No. 5 Ole Miss at No. 9 Georgia
Need another sign that the 2025 season has been off the rails? It’s newsworthy that the No. 8 Heisman favorite is in line to start a Week 8 game.
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Trinidad Chambliss is 20-1 at BetMGM to win the Heisman. He took over as Ole Miss’ starter in Week 3 after Austin Simmons suffered an ankle injury against Kentucky and has played well enough to be in the Heisman conversation through the first half of the season. Can he continue that against Georgia? Chambliss threw for 314 yards and rushed for 71 in the Rebels’ win over LSU on Sept. 27. He also had all three of Ole Miss’ TDs in their close call against Washington State in Week 7.
We’re still not sure what to make of Georgia. The Bulldogs are good. Very good, even. But are they great? They look a bit like the Chiefs from 2024. They’re winning games, but it’s not always pretty and they’re doing things on the margins. And what they did to Auburn after recovering the goal-line fumble at the end of the first half is what championship teams do.
But it’s clear Georgia has some work to do on offense. The 5.8 yards per play Georgia is averaging so far this season is the team’s lowest number since 2016. That was Kirby Smart’s first season with the Bulldogs and the team went 8-5. This team is a lot better than that unit, but it’s also still trying to figure out what works best on offense as the line has dealt with a lot of injuries.
No. 11 Tennessee at No. 6 Alabama
The Volunteers are Alabama’s fourth consecutive ranked opponent after victories against Georgia, Vanderbilt and Missouri. Things don’t get much easier going forward, either. Alabama visits South Carolina in Week 9 before home games against No. 10 LSU and No. 14 Oklahoma.
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Ty Simpson is our midseason Heisman winner after his performance through the first six games of the season. Simpson is completing over 70% of his passes and has thrown 16 TDs with one interception. And he’s also putting up those numbers without much from Ryan Williams.
The sophomore receiver was a non-factor in the win over Missouri. It was the first time in his career that he had fewer than two catches. And it’s not like Williams had one catch, either. He didn’t have a single reception.
Tennessee could be a good get-right matchup. The Vols’ defense gives up points in bunches. Opponents are averaging 29 points per game against Tennessee and opposing QBs are completing two-thirds of their passes for 258 yards per game.
UT would also love to break a 22-year streak on Saturday. Though the Vols have won two of the last three games in the series, Tennessee hasn’t won in Tuscaloosa since 2003 when it held on in a 51-43 five-overtime thriller. If Tennessee is going to pull the upset, Joey Aguilar needs to be fantastic. And a great game will thrust him into that Heisman discussion.
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No. 20 USC at No. 13 Notre Dame
USC’s got a long losing streak in South Bend, too. But it’s not as long as Tennessee’s road streak against Alabama. The Trojans are looking for their first win at Notre Dame since 2011.
Given the way USC bossed Michigan, this could be their best chance since losing by three in 2019 to a No. 9 Notre Dame squad. However, the Trojans will need to rely on their running back depth again. RB Waymond Jordan is set to miss multiple games after he suffered an ankle injury against Michigan. RB Bryan Jackson scored the game-clinching TD after he was ruled out for the game on the team’s injury report. The Big Ten fined USC $5,000 for playing Jackson, but Lincoln Riley has said that the school communicated with the league that it needed to play Jackson after both Jordan and Eli Sanders were unable to return because of injuries.
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Notre Dame’s defense has improved week-by-week after Texas A&M racked up nearly 500 yards and over seven yards a play. Boise State had just 315 yards on 71 plays and NC State averaged fewer than four yards a play in the Irish’s 36-7 win a week ago. Couple that with the way the offense can put up points — short-yardage situations could be better, however — and that’s a playoff recipe if the Irish can finish the season 6-0.
No. 23 Utah at No. 15 BYU
It’s the first test of the season for BYU and freshman QB Bear Bachmeier. And it’s a very heated rivalry too. The Cougars are outscoring teams by 22 points per game and got a solid win at Arizona in Week 7. However, a 24-21 win at Colorado was the team’s best victory before the win over the Wildcats.
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Utah’s visit is the first of three games in a pivotal stretch for BYU. In Week 9, the Cougars visit Iowa State before an off week and a trip to No. 7 Texas Tech on Nov. 8. We’ll know if BYU is for real over the next four weeks.
The offensive gameplan so far has been very clear. The Cougars run the ball 42 times a game and Bachmeier has thrown just 144 passes so far this season. RB LJ Martin has 101 attempts for 652 yards and Bachmeier leads the team with seven rushing touchdowns.
Utah blitzed an Arizona State team without QB Sam Leavitt in Week 7 and is just as successful as BYU at running the ball. QB Devon Dampier leads the team with 65 carries for 378 yards and five touchdowns while also completing over 71% of his passes for 1,131 yards. Dampier threw just 12 passes against ASU as Utah averaged 6.6 yards a carry. We’re going to go out on a limb and say that these two teams could combine for over 80 rushing attempts.
Other games to watch
Washington at Michigan (-5.5), Noon ET, Fox: Based on how the season has gone so far, Michigan’s passing offense will be above average. Bryce Underwood has 756 yards and is completing 67% of his passes at home compared to a 51% completion percentage and 454 yards on the road. Washington’s Demond Williams has quietly been one of the better QBs in the country with over 1,600 passing yards so far.
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Georgia Tech at Duke (-1.5), Noon ET, ESPN: This looks to be Georgia Tech’s toughest ACC test of the season against a Duke team that has some of the highest turnover variance in college football. The Blue Devils have turned the ball over seven times all season. Five came in a Week 2 loss to Illinois and another came a week later in a loss to Tulane. The Duke defense has forced 12 turnovers and 11 of them have come during the team’s current three-game win streak.
No. 14 Oklahoma (-5.5) at South Carolina, 12:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network: South Carolina is desperate for a win and Oklahoma needs to rebound from that ugly performance against Texas. It’s the second of five straight games against teams in the top 15 for South Carolina too. After OU, USC has No. 6 Alabama, No. 5 Ole Miss and No. 4 Texas A&M.
No. 4 Texas A&M (-7.5) at Arkansas, 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN: Could the fightin’ interim Petrinos pull the upset? The Razorbacks average 7.5 yards per play and over 500 yards a game. But they’ve turned the ball over at least twice against four of their five FBS opponents and the defense is one of the worst in college football. A&M will be without leading rusher Le’Veon Moss after he was injured in the win over Florida.
No. 16 Missouri (-1.5) at Auburn, 7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network: Saturday night may be a pivotal point for Hugh Freeze’s Auburn tenure. The home Tigers are 0-3 in the SEC after things went off the rails late in the first half against Georgia. Missouri had a chance for the win late against Alabama in Week 7 before Beau Pribula threw his second interception of the game. A Mizzou win keeps the Tigers’ path to the playoff viable.
This news was originally published on this post .
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