College football week 8 is in the books. After every week fans can take away things from what happened on the field. Here are 5 things learned from college football week 9.
Related: 5 Things to watch in college football week 9
Kansas has had a solid season at 6-2. They have dealt with injuries this season, specifically to starting quarterback Jalon Daniels. The Jayhawks have overcome that to keep themselves in position to make a run at the Big 12 Championship game. Their two losses have been on the road to Texas and at Oklahoma State.
In week 9, Kansas proved they were tougher to deal with at home. They defeated Oklahoma 38-33. Backup quarterback Jason Bean led the team to victory in the final minutes of the game. Lance Leipold has done a fantastic job turning around the Kansas program and they could make some noise down the stretch.
Clemson’s struggles have been documented in these articles. In week 9, they had three losses heading into their game against NC State. The Tigers were favored by over a touchdown. Once again, turnovers ended up really hurting their chances to win an NC State left the game with a win.
The Tigers have four losses before October even ends. Things could go from bad to worse, as Clemson still has games against North Carolina and Notre Dame on the schedule, which could prove to be tough. Clemson needs some changes this offseason, because they aren’t the same program that was competing in the CFP for a lot of years.
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers hurt his shoulder in week 8. Maalik Murphy entered the game and helped the Longhorns defeat Houston. This week, Murphy got the start for Texas with Ewers still ailing. The Longhorns defeated BYU 35-6.
While the game was a little closer than the scoreboard indicates, Texas can win with Maalik Murphy at quarterback. That is good news as Ewers is set to miss some more time with his injured shoulder. The Longhorns could make a run at the College Football Playoff and they need Murphy to continue to play solidly down the stretch.
The Pac-12 has been recognized for having several good teams this season. When that happens, there are good games, but sometimes teams will beat up on each other. That happened Saturday. Oregon destroyed Utah on the road. It gave Utah their second loss of the season and eliminated them from the CFP picture.
In addition to Utah losing, Oregon State suffered an upset loss to Arizona. The Wildcats defeated the Beavers by three points. It was also Oregon State’s second loss of the season, which eliminated them from the CFP as well. There are plenty of more games like this down the stretch that could really separate teams in the conference.
The amount of upsets in week 9 should prep college football fans for the rest of the season. Georgia Tech upset North Carolina, which knocked them out of a chance to make a run at the CFP. As mentioned Kansas won against an undefeated Oklahoma team. Arizona defeated Oregon State as well. That doesn’t even include a lot of good games from the weekend.
As the weeks go on, there are about to be more of these upsets and wild finishes. Rivalry week is still left and week 10 features plenty of top matchups. There may not be a two-loss team crashing the CFP, but it is certainly possible.
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