Title favourites falter as traditional rivalries rage on in yet another scintillating week of college football. We round up the best of Week 8 below:

Louisville 24 @ 21 Miami
Hurricanes fizzle out in Cardinals upset as Beck’s interceptions sink Miami

Miami’s ten-game home winning streak came to an end on Friday night, the first time they have lost at Hard Rock Stadium since 2023 — when they also lost to the Cardinals. Prior to the upset, Louisville was 0-18 against top 10 teams when playing on the road.

“This is what college football is all about,” Louisville coach Jeff Brohm said. “Every week is going to be a contest down to the very end, no matter who you play.”

Louisville seemed to pull every trick they had out of the bag, including a fake field goal and three separate players taking direct snaps under centre. Miller Moss had a big day, with two passing and one rushing touchdown. Moss was supported by an impressive 113 yards from Isaac Brown, while receiver Chris Bell hauled in both of Moss’s scoring passes and finished with 136 yards. Moss compared Louisville to Rocky taking a beating from Ivan Drago to illustrate their resilience against the pressure from Miami.

“That is kind of what it felt like,” Moss said. “We kept taking hits, kept taking hits. But we kept coming forward. Couldn’t be more proud of this team.”

On the other sideline, Carson Beck had a night he will want to forget with a career-high four interceptions, including the pick by T.J. Capers that sealed the game with 30econds left and the Hurricanes in field goal range. Miami coach Mario Cristobal acknowledged the Cardinals’ performance whilst lamenting his team’s shortcomings.

“Obviously, a really disappointing evening and outcome,” he said. “At the end of the day, credit to them. We didn’t coach well enough, didn’t execute well enough and came up short. Just not good enough.”

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Utah 21 @ 24 BYU
Cougars come out on top in Holy War

BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier led his team to their third consecutive Holy War victory over Utah to remain undefeated this season.

Bachmeier ended the game with 229 all-purpose yards, including one passing and two rushing scores to go along with L.J. Martin’s 122 rushing yards.

“We knew it would take all three phases to do this, and we knew it would be a fight to the end,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake commented after the game.

BYU safety Tanner Wall reflected on their winning streak: “I’ve been a part of all three of those wins. To be able to say, leaving this place, I never lost to Utah, I’ll wear that with a lot of pride for the rest of my life.”

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham was positive about his team’s performance, despite the defeat.

“Did some really good things tonight,” he claimed. “Out-rushed them, out-threw them, out-first downed them, but we didn’t score more points than they did.”

Devon Dampier’s 244 yards and two scores, along with Daniel Bray’s career-high 121 yards rushing weren’t quite enough to overcome the Cougars, with the QB reflecting the disappointment of the entire team.

“We’re not happy,” he stated. “We know what our team is capable of. We had aspirations to be undefeated after our first loss, so it hurts us right now.”

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Texas Tech 22 @ 26 Arizona State
Sun Devils shine as Big 12 favourite Red Raiders fall to first defeat.

After leading for the majority of the game, a late Arizona State fourth quarter comeback saw fans flood the field as the goalposts fell at Sun Devil Stadium.

Texas Tech QB Will Hammond, who had struggled to get much going earlier in the game, woke up in the fourth quarter and eliminated a 12-point Sun Devils lead with two late scoring drives, capped off by a two-point conversion that he ran into the endzone.

However, the Red Raiders left two minutes on the clock for ASU — adorned in their 1975 throwbacks — to mount a comeback of their own. Sam Leavitt, who had missed the previous week due to a foot injury, took his team from their own 25 on a 61-yard drive, that included a 33-yard pass to Jordyn Tyson on fourth-and-two and culminated with Raleek Brown’s one-yard touchdown run following a pass interference penalty.

“Going into that two-minute [drill], there wasn’t too much worry there.” Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham said, effusive in praise of his QB. “I’ve never been around a guy who just works to win football games as much as he does — and, in the biggest moments, he makes the biggest plays.”

The recognition was echoed by opposing coach, Joey McGuire, who insisted that ‘that quarterback changes everything. He’s a difference maker’.

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USC 24 – 34 Notre Dame
Tough Love for Trojans as Irish ground game dominates.

The Trojans were bulldozed in South Bend by a career-high 228-yard performance by Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love that comfortably eclipsed his previous best of 157 yards.

Jadarian Price backed up Love’s effort with 87 yards of his own as the Notre Dame totalled 306 yards on the ground against a USC defensive front that struggled to contain the run all night.

Their offense was no better, and generally could not keep up with their rivals, with King Miller and Bryan Jackson only combining for 92 yards in the absence of the injured Waymond Jordon and Eli Sanders. Trojans QB Jayden Maiava continues to be strong through the air with 328 yards, but his two touchdowns were counter-balanced by a brace of picks.

USC managed to do enough to give themselves a 24-21 lead in the fourth quarter following a 59-yard score from Ja’Kobi Lane and two-point conversion from Maiava, but it was only a matter of time before Notre Dame regained the lead, with Price breaking through as the Irish scored 13 unanswered points to give them an insurmountable lead.

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AP Poll Top 25 (entering week nine):

1. Ohio State

2. Indiana

3. Texas A&M

4. Alabama

5. Georgia

6. Oregon

7. Georgia Tech

8. Ole Miss

9. Miami

10. Vanderbilt

11. BYU

12. Notre Dame

13. Oklahoma

14. Texas Tech

15. Missouri

16. Virginia

17. Tennessee

18. South Florida

19. Louisville

20. LSU

21. Cincinnati

22. Texas

23. Illinois

24. Arizona State

25. Michigan