Week 8 of college football is in the books, and the wild ride continues. Ranked matchups did not disappoint, and we’re seeing stocks rise and fall for various programs and players. Quarterbacks got benched, forgotten teams made statements, and preseason favorites continue falling flat on their faces.
Sunday Stock Exchange | College Football Week 8
From the beginning of the day to the end, there wasn’t a shortage of entertainment. Let’s dive into the Week 8 college football Stock Exchange.
Stock Up: Backup Quarterbacks
Every season, we look at the quarterback battles and incoming freshmen that could compete for starting positions. Week 8 put two backups in the spotlight thanks to their starters’ struggles.
Clemson’s Cade Klubnik took over when DJ Uiagalelei got benched, and most leaned on running back Will Shipley to come back and beat Syracuse. A stout defense played a big role in giving the Tigers the win, but now it’s time to discuss whether or not Klubnik will be the guy going forward.
SMU’s Preston Stone inherited a similar situation and nearly led a Mustangs comeback against Cincinnati. They came up just short, but the fans asking for Stone to start at the beginning of the year will only want it more after Tanner Mordecai’s struggles.
Stock Down: DJ Uiagalelei
Uiagalelei saw the bench in the third quarter against Syracuse. If this happened at the beginning of the year, no one would have batted an eye. However, the season was going well for him thus far.
Three turnovers and a lack of points forced the coaching staff to make a move, and Klubnik took over the offense. Now everyone’s wondering who will be the guy going forward, and all confidence in DJ appears to be gone.
Stock Up: UTSA Roadrunners
Just 10 points through the first three quarters didn’t phase the Roadrunners, as they put up 21 fourth-quarter points to beat North Texas. This team continues showing their resiliency all year, and it’s helped them handle clutch moments.
After a 1-2 start, Jeff Traylor’s squad rattled off five consecutive wins, keeping at the top of Conference USA as the only team without a conference loss. A team picked to win the conference at the beginning of the year, UTSA is living up to that billing now.
Stock Slightly Down: Syracuse Orange
Look, the loss was disappointing. No one’s going to argue that. Syracuse jumped out to a 21-10 halftime lead over 5th-ranked Clemson, but eight starlight drives without points to end the game squashed the upset bid.
Playing a close game against a Top 5 team is good for Syracuse. However, they didn’t capitalize enough on their opportunities. Clemson turned the ball over four times, but none of them turned into points for Syracuse.
Stock Up: Bo Nix/Oregon Ducks
Most of the country probably tuned out Oregon after the beatdown Georgia laid on them in Week 1. Bo Nix looked horrible, and the Ducks had more questions than answers. They clearly did some soul-searching and look like a completely different team now.
Oregon’s outscored their non-Georgia opponents 294-154, including a 45-30 win over ninth-ranked UCLA this weekend. Nix accounted for 334 yards and five touchdowns in the win, leaving many to discuss his chances as a Heisman candidate.
One thing is for sure — both Oregon and Nix look incredibly more confident than they did nearly two months ago. The Pac-12 appears to be wide open still, and the Ducks put themselves in a great position to win another conference championship after Week 8 of college football.
Stock Down: Miami Hurricanes
I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but my guess is that it’s hard to win many football games when you turn the ball over eight times in a game. The Hurricanes have a lot of work to do.
A 45-21 loss to Duke shows how far away Mario Cristobal’s squad is from where they want to be, and there are plenty of aspects that must be addressed. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke left the game with an injury too, leaving the offense to Jake Garcia. Josh Gattis isn’t winning over the fanbase either with the lack of explosiveness this year.
Stock Up: LSU Tigers
What a “family” this LSU Tigers team has become. Expectations outside of the program weren’t high heading into the 2022 college football season, but they find themselves at 6-2 after a 45-20 win over seventh-ranked Ole Miss in Week 8. Their quarterback embodies what this team has gone through, and he’s proving people wrong as well.
MORE: Week 8 CFB Team of the Week
Jayden Daniels came to LSU with many doubts about his game. Coming from Arizona State, the talent was there. We just didn’t see it consistently enough. Brian Kelly’s found another gear in his quarterback, and we saw it on full display Saturday. Daniels passed for 248 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 121 yards and three more scores.
The win puts the Tigers at the top of the SEC West with Alabama, and their fate is very much in their hands.
Stock Down: BYU Cougars
The Cougars currently find themselves in freefall after their third consecutive loss. A season that started with tremendous potential has quickly gone south, and someone has to do something to stop the hemorrhaging.
BYU lost 41-14 to Liberty this past weekend after losing to Arkansas and Notre Dame in previous weeks. They’ve mostly struggled in their biggest games, a disappointing feeling for a team that many thought would be challenging Power Five competition.
Stock Up: Liberty Flames
Don’t look now, but the Flames are 7-1 after Week 8 of college football. All that kept them from an undefeated season so far is a 1-point loss to Wake Forest. Liberty outgained BYU this weekend 547-258 in total yards, even while losing the turnover battle.
The Cougars jumped out to a 14-3 lead before Liberty stormed back with 38 unanswered points. Running back Dae Dae Hunter led the way with 213 yards rushing on 23 carries, and the defense did its part to keep the Cougars off the scoreboard for most of the game.
Stock (Horns) Down: Texas Longhorns
I don’t know what planet Quinn Ewers was on, but it certainly wasn’t Earth. He attempted 49 passes, completing just 19 of them and setting a school record for most overthrows by a Texas quarterback. Oklahoma State capitalized on the Longhorns’ struggles by winning 41-34 this weekend.
The silver lining for Texas is that they were wildly bad in certain aspects. The overthrows and turnovers by Ewers were bad. However, they still remained in the game. Bijan Robinson looked phenomenal once again, but he could only do so much. Xavier Worthy was cooking the Cowboys’ secondary, but Ewers could only hit him four times on 16 targets.
So, even though they played badly, there should still be some hope that they can correct their mistakes and find a way to get into the Big 12 Championship Game. They just can’t repeat this type of performance.
Stock Slightly Up: South Carolina Gamecocks
Admit it, you stopped paying attention to South Carolina after they got pummeled by Georgia. Most of us did. Since then, the Gamecocks rattled off four consecutive wins, including back-to-back victories over Kentucky (on the road) and Texas A&M.
MORE: Week 9 CFB Power Rankings
The only hesitation is that they beat the Wildcats without Will Levis, and Texas A&M entered the game without Max Johnson and turned to freshman Conner Weigman due to a Haynes King injury (and they still barely won).
Momentum isn’t a bad thing to have on your side, and Shane Beamer’s squad could add more with Missouri and Vanderbilt up next. Their final stretch includes Florida, Tennessee, and Clemson, so there are plenty of tough battles left on the schedule.
Stock Down: Kansas Jayhawks
I still believe in the Jayhawks. We all should. After all, they’ve exceeded everyone’s expectations, even with their current struggles. Three consecutive losses killed some of the feel-good stories, and there are plenty of challenges ahead of them.
Baylor kept the Jayhawks largely in check this weekend, and they still must face Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Texas, and Kansas State. A bowl game is still in the cards, but it’s not going to be easy to get there.