Whether you consider it a thrilling comeback win for Michigan State or an epic collapse by Michigan, the bottom line is that last week’s clash between the Spartans and Wolverines provided us with one of the most unlikely endings in football history and one that we will never forget.
If we learned anything from last week, it’s that you better make sure you don’t turn the television off until the game clock shows four zeroes.
Here is a quick look at the can’t miss games for Week 8 of the college football season.
Kansas State Wildcats @ Texas Longhorns
Saturday, 12:00 PM ET
The upset win over the No. 10 Sooners in the latest installment of the Red River Rivalry makes Texas an excellent choice to start with when it comes to looking for teams with the potential to entertain. They’ve been quite entertaining all season, actually.
The Longhorns defense sacked Baker Mayfield six times and the combination of quarterback Jerrod Heard and running back D’Onta Foreman combined for 232 rushing yards to torch Oklahoma on the ground. The victory was vindication for head coach Charlie Strong following a rocky start to the year in which some were calling for his head.
Now they have the opportunity to make it back-to-back wins when they host a Kansas State team that is coming off three straight losses including a 55-0 drubbing by Oklahoma. Everything is lined up for Texas to improve to 3-4 so the biggest question heading in to this contest is will the Longhorns find a way to let another winnable game slip away? The Longhorns program finally looks like they’re on the upswing, so they better not mess this up.
Tennessee Volunteers @ No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide
Saturday, 3:30 PM ET
Alabama was left for dead following its loss to Ole Miss but it has bounced back with four straight wins. After beating up on Texas A&M, there is a lot of talk about the Tide as a potential playoff team once again. A showdown with LSU is right around the corner but first up for Alabama is a date with Tennessee that will be worth watching for a couple of different reasons.
Everybody wants to see how the Tide perform in this matchup but another underlying storyline will be the presence of Alabama offensive coordinator and former Vols head coach Lane Kiffin. Kiffin is a hated man in Tennessee and he will be hated even more after his offense beats up on the Vols defense in another potentially lopsided SEC win.
No. 15 Texas A&M Aggies @ No. 24 Ole Miss Rebels
Saturday, 7:00 PM ET
Texas A&M will be in tough to rebound from its first loss of the season on the road against an Ole Miss side that is coming off a tough defeat of its own. They let one slip away at Memphis last weekend. All eyes will be on the Aggies sophomore quarterback Kyle Allen to see how he responds after throwing three pick-sixes against the Alabama defense.
There is the potential that he has some lingering confidence issues. The Rebels would have paid close attention to Derrick Henry and the way he carved up the A&M defense on the ground last weekend, so look for them to borrow from that strategy and feed Jaylen Walton and Eugene Brazley the football as they attempt to pound the rock and get back on track at home.
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Washington Huskies @ No. 10 Stanford Cardinal
Saturday, 10:30 PM ET
Stanford was in a similar situation to Alabama after opening the season with a loss at Northwestern but they have bounced back with five straight wins – including a lopsided 56-25 victory over UCLA last week. The Cardinal are averaging a ridiculous 45.0 points and 492.6 yards per game since Week 1 and suddenly they are on the map as a legitimate playoff contender out of the Pac-12. Stanford should continue its dominant run against Washington this weekend and another big performance should provide an additional boost to their playoff stock.
But Washington is no pushover. Remember that they upset USC, gave Cal all they could handle a few weeks ago and also pushed No. 23 Boise State to the limit in their opener too.
