Week eight of the college football season was a week full of highly-anticipated matchups, but most of the games ended in disappointing blowouts.
One game that was not a disappointment was No. 2 Florida State vs. No. 5 Notre Dame. FSU had won 22 consecutive games entering it matchup against the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame took a 17-10 lead into halftime against reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston and the Seminoles. Nevertheless, the Seminoles rallied in the second half to take a 31-27 lead with less than eight minutes left in the game.
Notre Dame received the ball in great field possession at the FSU 49 yard line with 2:53 remaining on the game clock. After losing a combined eight yards on second and third down, quarterback Everett Golson and the Fighting Irish were in a 4th-and-18 situation. With the game on the line, Golson completed a 20-yard strike to wide receiver Corey Robinson to keep the game alive. Golson led the Irish to another fourth down, two yards away from the goal line with less than 20 seconds remaining in the game. On the fourth down play, Golson completed another pass to Robinson to seemingly give Notre Dame the touchdown and the lead. However, the dreaded yellow flag was on the grass. The penalty was offensive pass interference against Notre Dame, which backed the Fighting Irish all the way back to the 18-yard line. Golson was unsuccessful on the following pass attempt, and FSU would hold on to the 31-27 lead to win the game. As a fan, you always hate to see a game decided by a penalty. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly voiced his disapproval of the referee’s decision after the game.
“We execute that play every day,” Kelly said. “And we do it legally, and that’s the way we coach it. We don’t coach illegal plays.”
Florida State could possibly moonwalk into the NCAA playoffs this year. The Seminoles do not have another ranked opponent on their schedule after defeating Notre Dame.
While this game came down to the wire, many college football games this week did not. The No. 21-ranked Texas A&M Aggies traveled to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to face No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide. The Aggie season was once very promising with a dominating season-opening win at South Carolina. However, Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide crushed any hopes and dreams the Aggies had left after two straight losses to Mississippi State and Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide scored on every single first half possession, while A&M did not even attempt a field goal all game. Alabama finished the game with over 600 yards of offense and a 59-0 victory.  It was Alabama’s largest margin of victory since a 62-0 defeat of Tulane in 1991. This Alabama offensive performance was much improved from the previous week, where the Crimson Tide only totaled 227 yards of offense against Arkansas. Texas A&M will mercifully enter into a bye week, while Alabama prepares for an away game against the Tennessee Volunteers.
Tennessee had the unenviable task of traveling to Oxford to face No. 3 Ole Miss. Ole Miss trailed 3-0 early, but then scored 34 unanswered points to win by a total of 34-3. The Rebel defense continued its dominance, limiting the Volunteers to only 191 yards of total offense and zero rushing yards while forcing four Tennessee turnovers. Ole Miss will have one of its toughest tasks of the year next week as it plays LSU in Tiger Stadium.
LSU welcomed a Kentucky squad to Tiger Stadium on Saturday night. Kentucky was the surprise team of the SEC with a 5-1 record. However, LSU would humble the Wildcats rather quickly. The Tigers rushed for over 300 yards against the Wildcats and polished off a 41-3 victory. The LSU offense looks much improved as it prepares for a showdown against the Rebels next week. Kentucky hopes to bounce back as it hosts Mississippi State this Saturday.
Arkansas lost its 16th-straight SEC game to Georgia in a game that was not nearly as close as the score made it look. Georgia was leading 38-6 at the half. Georgia running back Todd Gurley missed a second-straight game, but freshman Nick Chubb ran for 202 yards and two touchdowns in his place. The Razorbacks scored 26 points in the second half against Georgia’s backups to make the final score 45-32 in favor of Georgia. 
It seems the Florida Gator’s Coach Will Muschamp is getting closer and closer to being relieved of his coaching duties. The question has gone from “will Muschamp get fired?” to “when will Muschamp get fired? The Gators lost 42-13 at home to a Missouri Tiger team that was beaten 34-0 in the previous week by Georgia. Missouri was up 20-0 at the half and only had 99 total yards of offense. The Tigers scored touchdowns on a kickoff return, a punt return, a fumble recovery and an interception return. Missouri scored 42 points on just 119 total yards of offense as it excelled on special teams and capitalized on six Gator turnovers. The Gator football team has now lost 12 of its last 19 games. “Fire Muschamp” chants could be heard coming from the stands in the third quarter. Florida will have an open date, and it is possible  Muschamp will no longer be the head coach when the Gators play Georgia on Nov. 1.
The biggest upset of the week was No. 4 Baylor losing to the unranked West Virginia Mountaineers. Baylor was coming off a comeback win against No. 10 ranked Texas-Cristian University. The game was tied at 27 entering the fourth quarter, but the Mountaineers outscored the Bears 14-0 in the fourth quarter to win 41-27. Baylor committed 18 penalties for 215 yards in the game. Heisman Trophy hopeful Bryce Petty passed for an underwhelming 223 yards on the day. Losing to an unranked opponent may very well knock the Baylor Bears out of contention for the first ever NCAA playoff.
This week, the South Eastern Conference became the first conference in college football history to have four teams ranked in the Associated Press top five. Those four teams all come from the Western Division of the conference. Mississippi State is ranked No. 1. Ole Miss is ranked No. 3. Alabama is ranked No. 4, and Auburn is ranked No. 5 after having the week off. Before the season’s end, there will be four meetings among these teams, all in the month of November. At least for the states of Alabama and Mississippi, November 2014 may be the most anticipated month in college football history.