College football Week 8: Oregon tops UCLA, TCU outlasts Kansas St.

Week 8 of the college football season was filled with excitement from start to finish, highlighted by Oregon’s impressive win over UCLA in a top-10 showdown.

Kicking off the day, No. 2 Ohio State cruised to a victory over Iowa, while No. 5 Clemson came back to top No. 14 Syracuse.

Later on, No. 11 Oklahoma State came back from a 14-point deficit to outlast No. 20 Texas.

To close out the night, No. 8 TCU kept its magical run alive by beating No. 17 Kansas State, while No. 6 Alabama earned an impressive victory over No. 24 Mississippi State.

Here are the top plays from Saturday’s Week 8 slate.

No. 8 TCU 38, No. 17 Kansas State 28

That was quick!

TCU QB Max Duggan connected with receiver Derius Davis, who made this 65-yard touchdown reception look seamless.

Moss’d ’em

Kansas State receiver Kade Warner went up and over a TCU defender to not only catch the ball, but turn it into a touchdown to even the game up. 

Pushing him in

Will Howard got some help from his Kansas State teammates to get into the end zone and give the Wildcats a 14-10 lead.

Deuces!

Kansas State running back Deuce Vaughn broke loose real quickly to score a 47-yard touchdown and extend the lead to 28-10.

Before the buzzer

The play-action pass worked well for TCU as Duggan found tight end Jared Wiley wide open in the end zone to cut Kansas State’s lead to 28-17 right before halftime.

Hitting the right receiver

Two TCU receivers got past Kansas State’s defense, but one had a clear path to the end zone. Duggan’s pass found the right one, connecting with Quentin Johnston for a 46-yard touchdown that put the Horned Frogs in front, 31-28.

To the house!

Kendre Miller took the delayed handoff on third-and-long and ran into the end zone to extend TCU’s lead to 38-28.

Clank!

Kansas State’s 40-yard field goal attempt to make it a one-score game hit off the post.

Sealing the deal

Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson got the interception that sealed the victory for TCU. The Horned Frogs held Kansas State scoreless in the second half after giving up 28 points in the first half.

No. 6 Alabama 30, No. 24 Mississippi State 6

All day

Bryce Young had great protection from his offensive line, allowing him to move around in the pocket for several seconds before finding an open receiver in the end zone to put the Crimson Tide up 7-0 in the first quarter.

Jahmyr turns on the jets

Alabama RB Jahmyr Gibbs made his 19-yard touchdown run look easy, quickly navigating through the Mississippi State defense to get into the end zone untouched. 

Leaving with a score

Mississippi State avoided a shutout by scoring on the final play of the game. Not only did the score prevent the shutout, but it was Mississippi State’s first touchdown at Alabama since 2014.

No. 10 Oregon 45, No. 9 UCLA 30 

Neon Nix

Oregon netted a field goal on its first possession, and on its second, Bo Nix began to carve up the Bruins defense like sliced ham. He guided the Ducks 71 yards in 10 plays for their first TD of the day, hooking up with Terrance Ferguson on a 17-yard dime for the score. It put Oregon up 10-3.

Track speed

UCLA’s Keegan Jones had a resounding answer for the Ducks’ score, taking a quick pass in the flat and hitting top gear en route to a game-tying 36-yard TD.

Proper placement

Nix kept the ball rolling in the second quarter, dialing up a beautiful lob to Troy Franklin on a fly route to give the Ducks a 17-10 lead.

Oregon went 54 yards in eight plays on its next drive to double its lead, 24-10.

Right before half

The Ducks continued their first-half scoring until the clock nearly struck zero. Nix scrambled in the pocket before throwing a strike to Franklin in the end zone on third-and-goal. The score put Oregon up 31-13 going into the break.

Powering into the end zone

Cam McCormick caught a pass from Nix over the middle and lowered his body to power his way into end zone to extend Oregon’s lead to 22.

Fourth-and-TD

On fourth-and-4, Bucky Irving found himself wide open, making a catch in the flat before turning up the speed to run all the way to the end zone untouched. The score gave the Ducks a 45-23 lead in the fourth. 

Dominant Ducks

Oregon shut the door on any comeback hopes for UCLA when Bryan Addison picked off Dorian Thompson-Robinson in the end zone midway through the fourth quarter.

No. 11 Oklahoma State 41, No. 20 Texas 34

Deuces up 

Texas’ Bijan Robinson has made a montage of broken tackles, and he added to it in the first quarter for the Longhorns with a 42-yard TD scamper, good for one of his best runs all season.

Worthy recipient 

Xavier Worthy’s been making waves for Texas all year, and the big-play wideout unleashed a tsunami on OK. State with a swift run after the catch to put the Longhorns up 14-10.

Bye bye Bijan 

The Texas RB strolled out of the backfield wide-open. Quinn Ewers found him right away, connecting on a short pass that resulted in a 41-yard touchdown for Robinson.

Spencer stopped

Texas intercepted Spencer Sanders as he and Oklahoma State attempted to tie the game in the second quarter.

Running all the way

Roschon Johnson added a fourth touchdown for the Longhorns before halftime when he ran for a 52-yard touchdown.

Tie game!

After trailing for much of the game, Oklahoma State evened things up in the early stages of the fourth quarter when Sanders threw a touchdown pass to Braylin Presley. 

For the lead!

Bryson Green caught Sanders’ pass over the middle and shed multiple tackles before seeing nothing but daylight to run for the 41-yard score that put Oklahoma State up 41-34 in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

Ballgame

For the second straight possession, Oklahoma State picked off Ewers. On the second one, Ewers and the Longhorns were driving down the field in the final minute to try to tie the game up. But Ewers’ pass bounced off a Texas receiver’s hands and landed in Kendal Daniels’ hands instead.

No. 2 Ohio State 54, Iowa 10

OH!

It took just one play for Ohio State to seize momentum of the game. 

Oklahoma State transfer Tanner McCalister jumped in front of a Spencer Petras throw for an easy takeaway, giving his squad possession on Iowa’s side of the field. The Buckeyes capitalized on the TO with a 46-yard FG to go up 3-0.

Boomerang

Ohio State’s momentum was immediately reversed into a deficit. After coming away with an INT on its first defensive play, the Buckeyes gave away a defensive TD on the opening play of their second drive. Joe Evans plowed through the Buckeyes’ O-line and pummeled C.J. Stroud for a strip sack, plucking the loose the football for an 11-yard TD.

Give it back!

Ohio State went 75 yards in 10 plays on its next scoring drive, which was heavily reliant on the run game. The team’s defense gave it a chance to extend its lead midway through the first, forcing Petras into another giveaway for his second TO of the day.

An unsuccessful fake punt attempt from Iowa on its next drive led to another Ohio State FG, giving it a 16-7 edge.

1…2…3!

Three marks the number of turnovers Ohio State swiped from Iowa in the first half. The third: a big-time pick six from Tommy Eichenberg, giving the Buckeyes a 26-10 lead.

Making a name for himself

After not one, but two more forced turnovers to begin the second half, Stroud and Marvin Harrison Jr. rewarded their defense’s activity with another TD hookup, marking Harrison Jr.’s 10th of the season.

Stroud completed a 13-yard scoring strike to Emeka Egbuka for his second TD throw of the day, giving the Buckeyes a 40-10 lead in the third.

Shoulder shrug

Julian Fleming broke out his best M.J. impersonation as he celebrated a huge 79-yard TD early in the fourth. 

The pitch-and-catch was Stroud’s third TD, and he followed up that up with yet another — this time a 3-yarder to fullback Mitch Rossi — to make it four.

No. 5 Clemson 27, No. 14 Syracuse 21

Flyin’ by 

Syracuse RB Sean Tucker vs. Clemson DE K.J. Henry — we think we know which man is winning this foot race. And when it played out in real time, the former skated past the latter for a short-yardage score. The TD tied things at seven early on.

Scoop it. Score it.

Syracuse’s defense was tenacious in the first half, and after collecting an INT, it kept the Tigers out of the end zone on their next possession in immaculate fashion: with a fumble-return TD, good for 90 yards. Ja’Had Carter was the man of the moment on the play.

One-man band

The Orange offense came up huge again as the second quarter came to a close, crossing the pylon on a Garret Shrader scamper to close out an eight-play, 68-yard drive. The short run put Syracuse up 21-7.

Changing of the guard?

Syracuse continued its dominance in the second half, coming away with takeaway No. 3 (a strip and fumble recovery) and No. 4 (D.J. Uiagalelei’s second INT). Dabo Swinney saw enough after the second pick, and benched Uiagalelei for Cade Klubnik late in the third quarter.

He’s gone!

Klubnik’s insertion incited a critical transformation for Clemson. He guided the Tigers to pay dirt on a 15-play, 80-yard drive for their first TD since the first drive, before Will Shipley broke off a 50-yard run to put the Tigers ahead 24-21 early in the fourth.

Clemson added another FG to go up 27-21, and on Syracuse’s last drive, R.J. Mickens leaped in front of a ball to snatch the game-sealing INT. The victory marked 38 straight home wins for the Tigers.

BEST OF THE REST:

Jumping ahead

Indiana found the end zone the first time it touched the football against Rutgers, as Jaylin Lucas exploded past the Scarlet Knights for a 93-yard house call.

Upset!

LSU QB Jayden Daniels scored five touchdowns to lead the Tigers to a 45-20 upset victory over No. 7 Ole Miss, who was undefeated entering Saturday’s game.