What a weekend in college football. For those who are fans of the most chaotic outcomes imaginable, this was the week for you. Seriously, there was so much that took place. North Carolina picked up their first loss of the season against then-one-win Virginia. USC extended their losing streak to two games with a loss to Utah. Iowa lost 12-10 to Minnesota after a punt return touchdown was overruled.
Given the results this weekend, that means ranking the Heisman candidates became that much more interesting. Who rises up the rankings? Who tumbles down the list? Is Michael Penix Jr. still the favorite? Or has a new name taken the top spot?
Let's look at the Week 8 edition of the 2023 Heisman Trophy Power Rankings.
Heisman Trophy Power Rankings 2023, Week 8 edition
Quinn Ewers and Texas made their return from the bye after a heartbreaking loss to the Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Showdown. They looked to increase their chances of making it to the Big 12 Championship Game with a win over the Houston Cougars.
Ewers played well on Saturday afternoon, but there's now concern about his status for the rest of the season. In the second half, Ewers lowered his shoulder on a scramble but was met with a tackle by Houston defensive lineman David Ugwoegbu. Ewers tried to play through it before walking to the locker room for treatment. Ewers would return to the sidelines, wearing street clothes and a sling on his right arm.
Prior to the injury, Ewers had completed 23-of-29 pass attempts for 211 yards and two touchdowns. Texas would survive in Week 8, escaping with a 31-24 win over Houston.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian revealed they'll know more about Ewers' injury on Sunday. From there, we should get a better idea of if Ewers is dealing with a serious injury and if he will miss time.
The Colorado Buffaloes entered their bye this week with a 4-3 record following their stunning loss to the Stanford Cardinal. Even with that loss, Colorado has accomplished plenty in the first year with head coach Deion Sanders. They far surpassed their win total from the year prior (one) and pulled off some big wins over TCU, Nebraska, and Colorado State. But with a 4-3 record, Colorado's path to a bowl game is tough.
Regardless of what happens, quarterback Shedeur Sanders has played tremendously in his first season in a Power Five conference. Sanders threw for 2,420 yards, 21 touchdowns, and three interceptions while completing 72.3 percent of his passes.
Sanders and the Buffaloes return next week when they take on the UCLA Bruins.
Quarterback Jordan Travis has done his part to ensure that the Florida State Seminoles remained undefeated and in the College Football Playoff picture. One of Florida State's big tests came this weekend when they took on the No. 16 Duke Blue Devils.
The Seminoles looked to be in trouble, as they trailed 20-17. But Travis led the team to touchdowns on not one, not two, but three drives after the Blue Devils turned the ball over on downs late in the third quarter. That included a two-yard touchdown run by Travis himself, a 21-yard pass to Lawrence Toafili, and a nine-yard touchdown run by Rodney Hill to secure the 38-20 victory.
That's not to say that Travis was flawless, as he threw a brutal interception that was returned for a touchdown by Duke in the first half to put Florida State in a 17-7 deficit.
Overall, Travis completed 27-of-36 pass attempts for 268 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception while running for 62 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
The Michigan Wolverines are entangled in some controversy entering Week 8, as they are under NCAA investigation over allegations of sign-stealing. With that, they are the brunt of jokes and the topic of debate. But the game was played on Saturday night, and the Wolverines didn't let their foot off the gas pedal against the Spartans.
Quarterback J.J. McCarthy had an easy go of things facing off against Michigan State's defense. McCarthy played a little over two quarters before sitting out the rest of the game after one drive in the second half. McCarthy attempted 17 passes and completed 11 for 287 yards and four touchdowns.
Michigan remains undefeated heading into their bye week. When McCarthy and the Wolverines return, they face the Purdue Boilermakers.
Drake Maye tumbles back down the power rankings.
For the first time this season, the North Carolina Tar Heels lost a game. It wasn't against a top-ranked team in the nation. Rather, it was against the 1-5 Virginia Cavaliers. But don't let the record fool you, Virginia was hanging in there with North Carolina throughout the game.
After the Cavaliers took a late 31-27 lead on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Tony Muskett to Malik Washington, the Tar Heels had three opportunities to take the lead in the final eight minutes-plus of regulation. Instead, they went three-and-out on one drive and turned the ball over on downs after recovering a fumble on the second. To end the game, Maye forced a pass while under pressure, and it was picked off to clinch the victory for Virginia.
In the game, Maye completed 24-of-48 passes for 347 yards and two touchdowns while also picking up a rushing touchdown.
Jayden Daniels is easily the best quarterback in the SEC this season. He has the innate ability to make plays with relative ease, whether that's through the air or on the ground. For Daniels, he just needed two quarters to essentially clock out for the night.
The LSU Tigers took on the Army Black Knights, and it wasn't relatively close. Daniels completed 11 passes for 279 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions on just 15 attempts. Daniels also picked up a rushing touchdown. His best play of the game would be his touchdown pass to Brian Thomas Jr. to put LSU up 14-0 early on.
With the team up 38-0 at halftime, Daniels was given the rest of the night off, with Garrett Nussmeier filling in.
Week 8 was a big one for Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel. Not only did he have the chance to extend the Sooners' undefeated season but also to pick up a win over his former team, the UCF Knights. Let's say that this game was too close for comfort for Oklahoma.
Trailing 23-17 to UCF, Gabriel would lead Oklahoma to two consecutive touchdown drives, one ending with an 11-yard pass to Drake Stoops and the other being a 30-yard touchdown run by Gavin Sawchuk. Yet, Central Florida nearly tied things up after scoring a 12-yard pass from John Rhys Plumlee to Javon Baker. However, the game-tying two-point conversion fell short, allowing Oklahoma to escape with the 31-29 victory.
Gabriel finished the game throwing 25 completions for 253 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception on 38 attempts while also running for 22 yards on 10 carries.
If the Pac-12 continues to act as wildly as it is currently and Heisman candidates begin logging multiple poor performances, Gabriel could very well climb up to the top of the rankings in the future.
Oregon's loss last week was on head coach Dan Lanning for going for three fourth downs instead of taking the points. Had he gone for the points, Oregon would have beaten Washington. Quarterback Bo Nix was great in his duel against fellow Heisman candidate, Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. With Oregon having one loss on the season, the Ducks had the chance to rebound against the Washington State Cougars.
The Ducks and Cougars were tightly matched in the first half, with Oregon holding a 17-13 lead entering halftime But, once the third quarter began, Nix extended Oregon's lead and never looked back. Nix threw two touchdown passes in the second half, including a 42-yard pass to Bucky Irving and a 17-yard pass to Tez Johnson. Oregon walked out with the 38-24 victory.
Nix completed 18-of-25 pass attempts for 293 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.
Next week, Nix and the Ducks take on a Utah Utes team that handed Caleb Williams and the USC Trojans a loss this weekend.
The good news is that Caleb Williams had a slightly better game this week than his brutal performance against Notre Dame last week. The bad news is that USC lost their second game in a row and is essentially eliminated from College Football Playoff contention.
Williams didn't put up multiple touchdowns like he did in previous games. But he did pick up one when it mattered most. With the team trailing 31-26 late and lined up at the 11-yard line, Williams ran it in for a touchdown to give USC a 32-31 lead.
There was one issue. With a little under two minutes remaining, he left too much time on the clock for Utah, who kicked a game-winning field goal. With that, Williams is now 0-3 against Utah in his career.
In the 34-32 loss, Williams threw for 256 yards while completing 24-of-36 attempts while running for 27 yards and a touchdown.
Last week, Michael Penix Jr. had his Heisman moment leading Washington to a win against Oregon. This week, Penix struggled mightily against the one-win Arizona State Sun Devils. College football, everyone.
This season, Washington has boasted one of the more productive offenses in the nation. Entering Week 8, the team averaged 543.7 yards per game. Against Arizona State on Saturday, the Huskies could only put up 288 yards. Penix was unable to lead Washington into the end zone. They were 3-for-11 on third-down attempts. The Sun Devils just had their number.
Penix was unable to lead the offense into the end zone for the second time this season. The other game that happened was against another Arizona team -- the Wildcats. This is also the first game of the season that Penix threw multiple interceptions. Overall, Penix completed 27-of-42 pass attempts for 275 yards.
This is the kind of game that would normally cause a Heisman candidate to fall. But Penix is in a tier with Williams compared to other candidates as of this writing. Penix still carries the edge in the Heisman rankings despite the bad showing. But the quarterback can't afford to have another game like this one.