Week 8 Reactions and Takeaways | Georgia Takes Down Ole Miss, Vandy is Awesome, Billy Napier Fired
Plus, Alabama, BYU, and Notre Dame win crucial rivalry games, JMU enters the G5 race, and Texas stinks.
Last week’s Week 7 recap column was received quite well by everybody, so I’m doing it again for Week 8. In the future, I’ll try to get this up by Monday or even Sunday, but due to school and work obligations, today was the first chance I’ve had in days to get some work done here on SethStack. I hope everybody understands.
It was once again a weekend filled to the brim with shocking developments. Florida fired Billy Napier, which wasn’t surprising, but Florida State and Auburn could also be on the lookout for new head coaches—and that’s kind of a head-spinner. Then there were the surprising defeats that some top teams suffered, like Miami’s loss to Louisville last Friday night and Texas Tech’s disaster in the desert against Arizona State. But don’t forget about the cool success stories in Vanderbilt, BYU, and Georgia Tech. All three won this weekend, and all three, if current results hold, will be in the College Football Playoff at season’s end.
The season is finally starting to hit its climax, and soon enough we’ll have CFP rankings to discuss. Before all that drops into our laps, though, let’s break down everything that happened during Week 8.
The Coaching Carousel Is Spinning… Fast
As of Tuesday, October 21, 11 FBS head coaching jobs have already come open. For comparison, by this time last season, only four total jobs had opened, with two of those coming from firings over the summer. There’s been an unprecedented amount of churn, and it didn’t stop over the weekend as Florida decided to pull the plug on Billy Napier in his fourth season in Gainesville.
Napier had long been on the hot seat, and it was a minor miracle that he even remained at the helm after 2024. But a blistering hot streak toward the end of last season that saw the team beat LSU and Ole Miss convinced the powers that be at Florida that perhaps there was some hope after all. That ended up being incorrect, as the Gators lost to South Florida in their second game of the year and have never shown consistent life since.
Overall, Florida was 22-23 over Napier’s three-plus years as head coach—a figure that’s definitely not good enough at a place that sees itself as a program that should be contending for national championships. It’s not like he was given the short end of the stick, either—he was provided every possible resource available to succeed. He just couldn’t do it.
Stubbornness definitely played a role. Midway through last season, athletic director Scott Stricklin put out a statement that essentially said Napier was going to give up offensive play-calling duties. But after the wins over LSU and Ole Miss, everything appeared fixed, and Napier was able to retain those responsibilities. It’s safe to say that was what ended up doing him in, as the offense consistently underachieved throughout most of this season and his entire tenure as a whole.
Where Florida turns next is an interesting question. On paper, the answer is simple: Lane Kiffin. What he’s done at Ole Miss has been outstanding, and it makes sense that jumping from Mississippi to Florida would be an upgrade. Is it, though? If you’d proclaimed that Florida was a better job than Ole Miss in 2015, there wouldn’t even be a rebuttal. But this is a new era of college football, where the preconceived notions we’ve long held about the sport are being turned upside down every week. If Indiana can throw itself into the national title mix, then Ole Miss can definitely do the same. Would Kiffin abandon all the work he’s done in Oxford for the sake of a rebuild in Gainesville? Only he knows the answer to that question.
If Kiffin says yes, then this hiring process will be super simple. If he doesn’t, however, then Florida’s going to have to pivot elsewhere. Your guess is as good as mine as to where that would be.
Napier’s dismissal isn’t the only aspect of the coaching carousel to keep an eye on. The situation at Florida State at the moment is dismal, and Mike Norvell’s seat is sizzling. The same goes for Hugh Freeze at Auburn. Both teams are on four-game conference losing streaks and are underperforming. And just because their respective athletic directors might be throwing out “votes of confidence,” that doesn’t mean all is well in Tallahassee and Auburn.
It’s going to be a historic hiring cycle, and it feels like it’s just getting started.
Georgia Wins Top-10 Clash
Everything Georgia has put on tape this season points to the fact that this is not the same Bulldogs team we’re used to. The defense isn’t special, the offense is a constant subject of scrutiny, and there’s a sense that the ceiling isn’t that high. But it doesn’t really seem to matter, as Georgia just keeps chugging along and winning football games one week at a time.
The key stat in the Bulldogs’ 43-35 victory over Ole Miss was simple: Georgia scored on every single one of its possessions. Its drive chart went as follows: field goal, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, end of game. It didn’t matter that the defense was having trouble stopping the fightin’ Trinidad Chamblisses, because the offense was moving the ball at a spectacular pace.
Gunner Stockton has been under a ton of heat all season long, but man, did he deliver on Saturday afternoon. He was 26-of-31 for 289 yards and four touchdowns, and he also ran for a score. The game plan for Georgia was to have Stockton go toe-to-toe with an Ole Miss offense that’s been lethal all year, and the quarterback delivered the goods.
Can Georgia win the SEC? Absolutely. How about Ole Miss? Sure, why not. This was a battle between two squads that, while flawed, have what it takes to not only make the College Football Playoff but win it all outright. The fact that we got to see a matchup this potent this early in the season was a treat. The fact that it was also an extremely entertaining contest didn’t hurt either.
The Vanderbilt Commodores are For Real
The lede is simple: After beating LSU, Vanderbilt is off to its best start in 75 years.
Never in my lifetime has Vanderbilt football been as relevant as it is right now. Taking down Alabama last season was one thing, but sustaining that progress into success this year has been especially impressive from head coach Clark Lea and company. Of course, the revival has been led by none other than Diego Pavia, the madman quarterback himself who’d rather run through a brick wall than through a wide-open door. It’s his leadership, his drive, his love for his team that has helped elevate the Commodores to new heights.
Vanderbilt’s modus operandi is to take control of the football and never let it go. That’s how it upset the Crimson Tide on that fateful day in 2024, and that’s how it beat the previously top-10 LSU Tigers on Saturday afternoon. The Commodores held the ball for 36:31 while LSU had it for just 23:29. That’s already a recipe for success, but add in the fact that LSU’s offense is somewhat anemic, and you’ve got yourself a bona fide winning formula.
What enabled Vanderbilt to hang on to the ball for nearly the entire contest was its exceptional rushing attack. The ‘Dores averaged 5.3 yards per carry and ran for 239 yards. A lot of that came via the shifty legs of Pavia, who ran for 86 yards and two scores. In fact, it was Pavia’s mobility that proved to be the saving grace in multiple instances as he made some acrobatic, insane plays that sustained drives time and again. Frankly, he’s a wizard.
With the win, the AP Poll elevated Vanderbilt to the top 10 for the first time since 1947. We’re living in unprecedented times, folks. Don’t take this for granted—this is special.
James Madison Enters the G5 CFP Race
For some, there might be things that are more pertinent than the Group of Five (or Six) College Football Playoff race, but for me, nothing gets me going more than analyzing which small school will get its opportunity to make a statement on the biggest stage of them all. For weeks, it’s been assumed that that spot would be awarded to the winner of the American Athletic Conference—South Florida, Memphis, Tulane, Navy, North Texas, etc. But with some recent developments, including Memphis’ disastrous loss to UAB and Tulane’s struggles at Army, there could be an opening for another school from another conference to make it in.
Enter the James Madison Dukes. The No. 25 team in the preseason D Poll has quietly been chugging along all season, winning every game it’s played against inferior competition. Its only loss came in Week 2 to a Louisville team that just went on the road and upset the No. 2 team in the country. Not too shabby.
The Dukes’ latest triumph was arguably the most impressive of them all, as they took rival Old Dominion—a former candidate for the G5 playoff spot—to the woodshed. James Madison outgained Old Dominion 624-285, ran for 311 yards, and won the time-of-possession battle 41:26 to 18:34. The final score was 63-27, and that might not have even reflected how dominant the win truly was.
So, the path for James Madison, while not easy, is fairly simple. Should it win out the rest of the way and win the Sun Belt, it has a shot. There could be some chaos in the American that causes some of those teams to drop another game, and if JMU is the only G5 team with one loss, then there you go—the Dukes will be going to the playoff for the first time. That’d be a real underdog story to see.
Could you imagine if James Madison played its former head coach Curt Cignetti and Indiana in the CFP? That’d be nuts.
Rapid Fire Takeaways
The Hurricanes stumble in a lowly spot, again. Miami’s outlook following its win over Florida State was promising, as it was favored over every other team left on its schedule. But the Louisville game was arguably the largest hurdle remaining, and once again, Miami played down to its competition and paid for it. Carson Beck threw four interceptions, the team committed nine penalties, and allowed a Louisville offensive line that had struggled all season to control the pace of the game. Miami’s biggest enemy under Mario Cristobal has always been itself, and that proved true yet again last Friday night. Credit to Louisville for coming out and fighting, though. That’s a good football team, and more people should be paying attention to Jeff Brohm’s Cardinals.
Maybe the Big 12 isn’t so set in stone after all. With quarterback Sam Leavitt healthy, Arizona State looked like a brand-new team, and that bore fruit as it was able to do something no team had done this season: beat Texas Tech. The Big 12 is back, baby! Leavitt threw for 319 yards and led the crucial game-winning drive with just two minutes to go. It was a fantastic bounce-back effort from the Sun Devils and a disappointing showing for Texas Tech. Joey McGuire’s team had fancied itself invincible through seven weeks, but this is the Big 12—they should’ve known better. Even with backup Will Hammond in as the signal-caller, the Red Raiders had every reason to believe that beating ASU on the road was doable. In the end, however, they were wrong, and now they’re left to maneuver through a Big 12 race that’s once again chaotic.
Tennessee’s troubles in Tuscaloosa continue. When Joey Aguilar threw that 99-yard pick-six as time expired in the first half, everybody knew the game was over. Tennessee had once again gone into Bryant-Denny Stadium and pooped the bed. It’s a tale as old as time. To Alabama’s credit, it continued to play like the best team in the SEC, with Ty Simpson having another great night. The defense, which had been the team’s weak link, had a better day, forcing the aforementioned pick-six and holding the Volunteers to just 20 points. Progress. Overall, Bama is great, Tennessee might be just OK, and the cigar smoke in Tuscaloosa was thick enough to make even the most avid smoker cough.
The Fighting Irish don’t care about a little rainstorm. It was raining cats and dogs in South Bend during USC–Notre Dame, and that only seemed to affect one team on the field. USC couldn’t get anything going on the ground, and when the rain really started picking up, the passing attack fell silent. For Notre Dame, though, that ground-and-pound philosophy that was so successful last year came back to the forefront as the Fighting Irish ran for 306 yards on the Trojans and galloped to a 34-24 win in a crucial rivalry contest. An impressive 228 of those rushing yards came from Jeremiyah Love, long considered one of the best ball carriers in America, who now might be seen as a true Heisman candidate. Jadarian Price wasn’t too shabby either, carrying 13 times for 87 yards. Notre Dame is still very much alive for the CFP. All it needs to do is win out. Easy, right?
BYU wins the Holy War. Less than 50 miles separate Brigham Young University from the University of Utah, making this annual matchup one of the most heated rivalries in college football. That was on full display Saturday night, as Provo was absolutely bumping, and the game itself, while not an explosive shootout, was an entertaining rock fight that saw the Cougars and their fantastic rushing attack seize the day. Freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier’s powerful run late in the fourth quarter sealed the deal, and the Holy War belongs to BYU for at least another season. BYU is undefeated and alone atop the Big 12, but doubters remain rampant across the country. The only way to continue proving everyone wrong is to keep winning. So far, so good on that front.
Texas stinks. The Longhorns had just 179 yards, eight first downs, and held the ball for only 20 minutes, and still beat Kentucky 16-13. I don’t care, though. I’ve seen enough. They are not worthy of playing for college football’s biggest prize. This is a team that, save for two quarters against Oklahoma, hasn’t played up to its talent level all season, and barely beating Kentucky isn’t enough to convince me there’s any light at the end of this tunnel. Arch Manning is subpar, the offensive line can’t block a snail, the wide receivers are mystifyingly missing, and the tailbacks can’t seem to find open lanes. Good thing the defense rocks, or this would be a full-scale disaster.
Texas A&M survives Fayettenam. Every iteration of the Southwest Classic is weird, and Aggies head coach Mike Elko said as much after Texas A&M’s 45-42 win over Arkansas. It started with a strange two-hour weather delay that pushed the game back into the night, setting the tone for a game where neither defense showed up as the two teams combined for over 1,000 yards of total offense. But it doesn’t matter what kind of game it is—Texas A&M is just better, and that was clear on Saturday.
Bill Connelly always ends his weekly recap column with some of his favorite games of the week. The following, while similar, is not that. It’s instead a compilation of games that I believe had the biggest implications on the meta-narrative of the 2025 college football season.
Missouri 23, Auburn 17. Hugh Freeze’s time at Auburn might soon be coming to an end. In a battle between two teams that call themselves Tigers, Auburn’s offense once again failed to do anything productive. Props to the defense, though, as Missouri was stymied for much of the night but ultimately got what it needed to win. Freeze’s inability to correctly identify which quarterback could lead his teams over the past three seasons will be what ends his tenure at Auburn.
Stanford 20, Florida State 13. Speaking of head coaches on the hot seat, Mike Norvell and the Seminoles just lost to a Stanford team that I’ve frequently called one of the worst in the nation. Perhaps that was always a bit of an exaggeration, but in what world should Florida State be losing to this version of Stanford? None. Yet it happened anyway. Folks in Tallahassee are rightly incensed, and if it weren’t for a buyout north of $50 million, Norvell would certainly be out the door.
Georgia Tech 27, Duke 18. The Yellow Jackets refuse to play aesthetically pleasing football games, yet it doesn’t really seem to matter. Georgia Tech played with its food in Durham, but frequent bad bounces for the Blue Devils enabled Haynes King and company to grind out the game and come away with a win. As things currently stand, Georgia Tech—that’s right, Georgia Tech—is in first place in the ACC.
Virginia 22, Washington State 20. The ending to this game was nuts. Tied at 20, Washington State fair-caught a ball at its own one-yard line, then proceeded to get sacked in the end zone for what ended up being the game-winning safety. Only in college football.
UAB 31, Memphis 24. Alex Mortensen, UAB’s interim head coach following the dismissal of Trent Dilfer, might have ended Memphis’ playoff hopes with this shocking upset. Sure, Memphis’ quarterback went down with an injury, but this was still impressive. UAB’s been abysmal for the better part of two seasons, and getting this result must feel really good in Birmingham.
Ohio State 34, Wisconsin 0. How Luke Fickell hasn’t been fired yet, I don’t know. All I know is that Ohio State is a wagon, and there’s no team in the country touching them anytime soon.
Minnesota 24, Nebraska 6. The only explanation for this is that Matt Rhule was distracted by all the Penn State noise and his team wasn’t prepared for P.J. Fleck and the fightin’ Golden Gophers. People should know that if your team is heading into “Row the Boat” territory, everyone needs to be ready. I guess not. As a result, Nebraska won’t be making the CFP, and Minnesota, against all odds, is still alive in the Big Ten title race.