CFB Wrap-Up: Takeaways from Week 8's biggest games

College Football Wrap-Up recaps the most important developments from the day's action and examines the significance of them moving forward.

Oregon continues offensive resurgence

Chip Kelly made his name as the architect of Oregon's explosive offense from 2007-12, but he had no answer for the Ducks in Eugene on Saturday. No. 10 Oregon absolutely dominated Kelly and No. 9 UCLA, piling up 544 yards of total offense in a 45-30 victory.

It was the latest in a series of impressive results for the Ducks, who continue to distance themselves from the 49-3 pounding at the hands of Georgia in the season opener. Since that dreadful result, Oregon is 6-0 with a combined scoreline of 294-154, with Bo Nix's incredible production at the quarterback position leading the way.

Nix has 1,653 passing yards (272 yards average) and 344 rushing yards during that span. The Auburn transfer averaged 329 yards of total offense with 17 passing touchdowns and eight rushing touchdowns in that six-game stretch.

During its streak, Oregon is averaging 49 points per game on offense, a number that would lead the nation. First-year coach Dan Lanning is a defensive wizard, but his offense, led by coordinator Kenny Dillingham, is what's making all the noise out west.

While the first loss of the season will sting for the Bruins, Kelly now has a month to get the defense sorted before the Battle of Los Angeles against USC on Nov. 19.

Comeback magic again for TCU

TCU again fell behind at home to a ranked opponent and again roared back for a comeback victory to remain undefeated on the season. This time it was No. 17 Kansas State racing out to a 28-10 advantage before the eighth-ranked Horned Frogs outscored the Wildcats 28-0 from there to win by double digits.

Last week was a dramatic fourth quarter to force overtime against Oklahoma State. But this time around, the middle portion of the contest ended up deciding things. After falling behind by 18 in the second quarter, TCU scored a touchdown with 20 seconds left to cut the deficit to 11 at the half. The Horned Frogs received the second-half kick and deployed a methodical 13-play, 77-yard drive to get within four points. They found the end zone on their next drive to take the lead for good.

There's no doubt the Horned Frogs benefitted from injuries to starting Wildcats quarterback Adrian Martinez and briefly to backup Will Howard, intercepting third-stringer Jake Rubley's only attempt of the game.

However, you gotta be good to be lucky, and TCU has shown time and again this season that it's a very good team under Sonny Dykes. The Horned Frogs pushed their record to 7-0 on another night when the offense gained around 500 total yards. The program is firmly in contention for a top-four slot in the opening CFP rankings in two weeks.

Leach can't touch Saban

The sample size is big enough to safely say Mike Leach's Air Raid offense doesn't work against a Nick Saban defense. In his third meeting against Alabama since joining Mississippi State, Leach walked off the field with just six more points to his record.

The sixth-ranked Crimson Tide recorded a 30-6 blowout of the 24th-ranked Bulldogs to bring the combined scoreline of their three contests to 120-15 in favor of Saban and Alabama.

With the victory, Alabama rebounded from last week's narrow loss to No. 3 Tennessee. It also marks 182 games since the last time the Crimson Tide dropped back-to-back regular-season contests.

Alabama now enters its bye week before a blockbuster showdown with LSU on Nov. 5.

Ohio State runs it up on Iowa

Ohio State's season of domination continued Saturday, with Iowa and its lowly offense the latest victim. The Buckeyes absolutely pummeled the Hawkeyes, forcing them into six turnovers and piling up 54 points - the most the program has allowed in a game since 1994.

The Buckeyes' offense usually gets most of the accolades for their explosive potential, but the defense carried the day Saturday. Ohio State's swarming outfit meant short fields were the norm for the offense. The average starting position for the Buckeyes on its nine scoring drives was the Iowa 44-yard line.

You can insert your own joke here about the Iowa offense - and there are plenty to choose from - but Ohio State deserves some credit for taking it to the opponent. The Hawkeyes finished the game with just 81 yards passing and 77 yards rushing.

The Buckeyes have now held all seven opponents under 21 points on the season and won each game by double digits. Ohio State certainly has a fair argument that it's the top team in the country as the calendar gets closer to the campaign's final month.

Texas crumbles at Oklahoma State

Conference road games are the most difficult to win in college football, something Quinn Ewers and No. 20 Texas learned the hard way Saturday at Oklahoma State. The Longhorns raced out to a 31-17 lead in Stillwater, but the No. 11 Cowboys outscored them 24-3 the rest of the way to win 41-34.

Ewers has looked great in his first season with the Longhorns, but the highly touted Ohio State transfer had yet to experience the cauldron of a road start. Two touchdown passes in the opening half made things look simple. However, the Cowboys' defense made halftime adjustments that proved too much for the young passer. Ewers finished with 319 yards on the night but was a dismal 19-of-49 passing with three interceptions against his two touchdowns.

Unfortunately for Texas, Saturday's setback was the latest in a troubling pattern forming under Steve Sarkisian since he took the job in Austin. It's the fifth time in 20 games under Sarkisian that the Longhorns have blown a lead of at least 10 points. He's now 10-10 overall with the Big 12 program - a very disappointing record given the talent he's brought to the school.

The win kept Oklahoma State in the thick of the Big 12 race following last week's overtime loss at TCU, with the Cowboys sitting just below the Horned Frogs in the conference standings.

Clemson goes Klubbin' for record win

The DJ left the party early, and No. 5 Clemson went Klubbin' to secure an ACC record 38th straight home win Saturday against No. 14 Syracuse.

Trailing 21-10 in the third quarter, Dabo Swinney benched quarterback DJ Uiagalelei following his third turnover of the game and replaced him with prized freshman Cade Klubnik. The move sparked the Tigers' offense to 17 second-half points, and the defense pitched a shutout to erase the 11-point deficit and claim victory.

Syracuse looked exceptional over the first half but self-destructed in the later stages to allow the Tigers to come back. Klubnik's first drive appeared to be ending in a punt multiple times, but two separate personal fouls gave Clemson 30 yards of field position and two first downs.

The threat of Klubnik going down the field also opened the running attack for Will Shipley. After a strong opening 30 minutes, the Orange had no answer for the star rusher down the stretch. Shipley ended the contest with 172 yards on the ground, including a back-breaking 50-yard score in the fourth.

Clemson is now 59-1 in its last 60 home games and is set for a bye before facing Notre Dame on Nov. 5. The Tigers will surely be heavily involved in the first edition of the CFP Rankings and have a fairly comfortable schedule the rest of the season. Their four opponents remaining on the slate entered Saturday with a combined 13-12 record.

It gets worse for Jimbo and Texas A&M

Texas A&M announced a monster 10-year, $94.95-million extension for Jimbo Fisher on Sept. 1, 2021. At that point in his career with the Aggies, Fisher had a 26-10 overall record with a 3-0 mark in bowl games. Since then, Fisher and the Aggies are just 9-8 against FBS competition and left South Carolina on Saturday on a three-game losing streak.

The offense was again the issue for Texas A&M, failing to score 25 points for the ninth straight contest against FBS competition. Only two teams own longer streaks, with one just firing its coach and the other dismissing its offensive coordinator.

While the Aggies piled up almost 400 yards of total offense, they converted only 5-of-14 third downs. Add two turnovers to the mix, and it was too much for Texas A&M to overcome on the road.

The Aggies must now win three of their final five games to reach a bowl, something that won't be an easy task with matchups against Florida, LSU, and Ole Miss still on the schedule. With his contract fully guaranteed, the good news for Fisher is that there's virtually no chance he'll lose his job in College Station for the foreseeable future.

LSU flips the script

Adapting on the fly is one of the most important attributes of a head coach. There's no doubt Brian Kelly is one of the best coaches in college football, and the LSU frontman showed why in a masterclass performance versus Ole Miss on Saturday.

The Rebels ran wild over the Tigers to open the contest, scoring two touchdowns and a field goal on their opening three drives to take a 17-3 lead. LSU made the necessary adjustments and completely flipped the game on its head to outscore its opponent 42-3 from that point forward.

Jayden Daniels was brilliant again for the Tigers' offense, but it was the defense that made the comeback possible with an absolutely stifling performance on the prolific Ole Miss attack.

1st three drives: 211 yards in 24 plays (8.79 yards per play)
Remainder of game: 178 yards in 50 plays (3.56 yards per play)

The Rebels entered play with the nation's third-ranked rushing attack at 271 yards per game. The LSU front absolutely snuffed that out, holding Lane Kiffin's run game to just 116 total yards. That forced Jaxson Dart to beat the Tigers through the air, something the USC transfer struggled to do throughout.

Notre Dame has struggled mightily this season without Kelly, while other programs like Miami are in the middle of a disappointing campaign under a new coach. LSU has immediately improved under Kelly's watch and heads into the bye week with a date against Alabama awaiting on Nov. 5.

Miami throws turnover party

Miami hosting Duke certainly wasn't one of the bigger games on the schedule, but it deserves some attention thanks to an infamous performance by the Hurricanes. Mario Cristobal's outfit turned the ball over a whopping eight times, the most by an FBS team in a single game in over five years, in a 45-21 beatdown at home.

Yes, the Hurricanes are in their first year under Cristobal and deserve some runway. But Duke is in the exact same position under new coach Mike Elko. Cristobal inherited a significantly more talented roster than the Blue Devils, yet once again failed to deliver a strong performance at home.

Cristobal returning to Miami from Oregon was considered a huge win for the program, but the early returns suggest otherwise.

Milestones in Rutgers-Indiana

Most college football fans likely didn't pay close attention to Saturday's Big Ten contest between Rutgers and Indiana, but two noteworthy things worth mentioning occurred in New Jersey.

With the narrow 24-17 victory, the Scarlet Knights secured their first conference home win in an outrageous 1,813 days. However, that isn't even the most staggering number from the contest. The Hoosiers' loss marked the 700th in program history, the first time an FBS program has ever hit the number in college football.

It's perhaps fitting that Rutgers handed Indiana the record loss, as the Scarlet Knights aren't far behind with the third-most defeats in FBS history.