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College Football Week Eight Recap

By  Joe Morgan
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   DailyWire.com
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AMES, IA - OCTOBER 23: Quarterback Brock Purdy #15 of the Iowa State Cyclones celebrates at midfield after the Iowa State Cyclones defeated the Oklahoma State Cowboys 24-21 at Jack Trice Stadium on October 23, 2021 in Ames, Iowa. The Iowa State Cyclones Womacks 24-21 over the Oklahoma State Cowboys. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
David Purdy/Getty Images

On a weekend when the slate didn’t jump off the page, we first take you to Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach discussing his favorite Halloween candies.

And now we can talk football.

Even without an AP top-25 matchup on the schedule, we knew that college football would give us some wild games. Two top-10 teams went down, and a nine overtime game was played.

Let’s take a look at the best from week eight of the college football season.

No. 3 Oklahoma needs second half comeback to escape Kansas

Kansas came into Saturday’s matchup against No. 3 Oklahoma at 1-5 on the season and 38.5 underdogs. Finally, an easy win for OU.

As Lee Corso is famous for saying, “No so fast, my friends.”

The Sooners entered the fourth quarter training 17-14, but two fourth quarter touchdowns by running back Kennedy Brooks and one unreal play by quarterback Caleb Williams allowed Oklahoma to escape Lawrence, Kansas, with a 35-23 win.

“I don’t care who you’re playing,” OU head coach Lincoln Riley said. “If you don’t seize momentum early in a road football game, you’re gonna be in for a dogfight, and we were. When we’re not playing well it’s close. We’re tired of being close. We’ve got to push it over the edge.”

On a fourth and one from their own 46-yard line, the Sooners held just a 28-23 lead. Williams handed off to Brooks, who was stopped short of the line to gain. But what Williams did next took everyone’s breath away.

In one of the most heads up plays you’ll see at the college football level, Williams took the ball out of Brooks’ hands and turned up the field for a first down.

“I knew that I couldn’t get tackled on fourth down,” Brooks said. “So I gave it to him.”

OU remains undefeated on the year, moving to 8-0.

Illinois takes down No. 7 Penn State in nine overtimes

The over/under for the game was 45.5, and yet even with nine overtimes, you lost money if you bet the over on the Penn State vs Illinois game.

In the first ever ninth overtime in college football history, Illinois wide receiver Casey Washington caught a walk-off two-point play to take down No. 7 Penn State 20-18.

“To see our locker room right now is pretty special,” Illinois coach Bret Bielema said. “They fight for one another.”

After both teams exchanged field goals in the first two overtimes, they began a series of two-point attempts from the three-yard line, the new format for the 2021 season.

Illinois had 357 yards on the ground to Penn State’s 62, and a banged-up Sean Clifford was just 19-34 for 165 yards on the day.

“I think the combination of guys that did not practice, a combination of a wet day, the threat of the pass not being there, a limited Sean, all of it factored in,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said when asked about his struggling run game. “You can’t go from heavy pass to heavy run in one week. You got to be able to be mixed and be balanced, and we weren’t able to do that today.”

Iowa State hands No. 8 Oklahoma State first loss

You just knew Mike Gundy and undefeated Oklahoma State were heading into a trap game at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday.

The No. 8 Cowboys entered the game undefeated, yet were +7 underdogs for a reason.

Breece Hall scored a rushing touchdown for the 19th straight game, and Iowa State staged a second half comeback to hand OK State their first loss of the season. Cyclones quarterback Brock Purdy threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns, getting a late stop from his defense in a 24-21 win.

“I’m just so happy for our team,” Purdy said. “It felt good to finish it the right way.”

The Cowboys took back the lead on a 25-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Spencer Sanders midway through the fourth quarter, but Iowa State drove right back down on their next possession, ending on Hall’s only touchdown run of the day.

Oregon survives UCLA, keeps Pac-12’s playoff hopes alive

For a brief moment, any hope that the Pac-12 had for getting a team into the College Football Playoff appeared to be crashing to the ground.

But DJ James intercepted backup quarterback Ethan Garbers with under a minute to play, and Oregon finished off a 14-point comeback to beat UCLA 34-31.

“I needed to just trust in my instinct. I know we needed a play and I put it on the line,” said James.

Oregon quarterback Anthony Brown threw for 296 yards and rushed for 85 on the ground, as the Ducks moved to 6-1.

“They all just rallied around him and showed belief,” coach Mario Cristobal said. “It was a great game and really hard fought. There were big plays all over the place.”

The Ducks have five conference games remaining, needing to win out in order to have a chance at the CFP.

Other Scores:

No. 2 Cincinnati 27 Navy 20

No. 4 Alabama 52 Tennessee 24

No. 5 Ohio State 54 Indiana 7

No. 6 Michigan 33 Northwestern 7

No. 13 Notre Dame 31 USC 16

No. 16 Wake Forest 70 Army 56

No. 22 San Diego State 20 Air Force 17

No. 23 Pittsburgh 27 Clemson 17

Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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