Once again, a Saturday of college football helped give some clarity at the full scope of this season. Perhaps the most notable result came at Kinnick Stadium, where then-No. 2 Iowa’s, a squad that had gotten by on great defense and just enough offense, fell to a pretty explosive Purdue squad, 24-7.
That loss drops the Hawkeyes from the ranks of the unbeaten. That group shrinks by the week, and doesn’t have the number of usual powers that may usually expect.
In the ACC, No. 16 Wake Forest is the only school without a blemish on its record. The Demon Deacons will face a tough test Saturday, with a trip to Army. The Big 12 has a pair of undefeated rivals, in No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 8 Oklahoma State. The Sooners are finding their identity with Caleb Williams at quarterback, and should have an easy one against Kansas on Saturday. The Pokes, meanwhile, take on one of the preseason darlings in the league, Iowa State in Ames.
No. 6 Michigan and No. 9 Michigan State are each undefeated in the Big Ten, and will face off next weekend. UM has Northwestern, while MSU is off this weekend. Finally, in the SEC, No. 1 Georgia is the last team standing. They’re also on bye. In a rarity, the No. 2 team in the country hails from the Group of 5, in AAC power Cincinnati, which hosts Navy. No. 21 SMU is also undefeated in the AAC, and has Tulane on Thursday night. Elsewhere in the G5, No. 24 UTSA (7-0) has Louisiana Tech, and No. 22 San Diego State (7-0) has a tough trip to Air Force. No. 14 Coastal Carolina gets things going tonight, with a test at Appalachian State in the Sun Belt. College GameDay, meanwhile, will be out West as No. 10 Oregon takes a trip to face UCLA at the Rose Bowl. We also have the annual rivalry games between No. 13 Notre Dame and USC, and No. 4 Alabama vs. Tennessee.
After a big Week 7, in which he missed just six games, Steve Driscoll leaps into first place by a game over Andrew McCarty. Here are the standings after Week 7.
1. Steve Driscoll: 231-61
2. Andrew McCarty: 230-62
T-3. Dan Lyons: 225-67
T-3. Zach Koons: 225-67
5. Alek Arend: 223-69
6. Matt Audilet: 219-73
7. Chris Rosvoglou: 218-74
T-8. Matt Lombardi: 217-75
T-8. Tzvi Machlin: 217-75
10. Matt Hladik: 216-78
11. Andrew Holleran 214-78
With our 11 staff members picking each game, the biggest splits this week come in Texas Tech–Kansas State, Virginia Tech–Syracuse, Purdue–Wisconsin, Iowa State-Oklahoma State, Pitt–Clemson, Minnesota–Maryland, Cal–Colorado, and Oregon State–Utah.
Here are our picks for Week 8 of the 2021 college football season:
Each week, we pick every college football game involving Power Five and/or ranked teams. Check back with The Spun each week for updated standings.