Several SEC teams, including LSU and Georgia, face pivotal Week 8 games that could define their playoff chances.
USC coach Lincoln Riley is under pressure to prove his team can compete with top programs as they face Notre Dame.
BYU’s undefeated record and freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier face their toughest test yet in a rivalry game against Utah.
The similarities are hard to ignore.
Three weeks removed from a win against then-unbeaten Georgia, Alabama was 5-1 and ranked No. 7 in the US LBM Coaches Poll and Tennessee was 5-1 and ranked No. 11 when the two met on the third Saturday of last October.
Fast-forward a calendar year. Three weeks after beating the Bulldogs 24-21, the red-hot No. 6 Crimson Tide host the No. 11 Volunteers looking to avoid a similar fate to last season.
Tennessee’s 24-17 win in Neyland Stadium was a sign of struggles to come for Alabama, which nosedived out of College Football Playoff contention and lost more than three games for the first time since 2017. While the Tide ruined their own chances with cringeworthy losses to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, the defeat in Knoxville ended up being the separating factor that earned the Volunteers an at-large playoff bid at Alabama’s expense.
A five-game winning streak since dropping the opener to Florida State has reestablished the Tide as a legitimate national championship contender and potentially the best team in the SEC. This stretch of play since early September has also rocketed quarterback Ty Simpson into the Heisman Trophy debate and solidified second-year coach Kalen DeBoer’s job security after his stressful debut.
There’s a sense that this season is different for Alabama. Part of this optimism stems from three wins in a row against ranked teams, starting with the Bulldogs. Another factor is the improved play on offense.
But all that momentum would evaporate with a third loss in four years to the one-loss Volunteers, who lead the nation in scoring (48.2) with at least 34 points in every game and rank fourth in yards per game (527.8). There’s no question that Tennessee has slid under the radar after spending most of the offseason dealing with the fallout from quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s abrupt departure for UCLA after spring drills.
The Tide and Volunteers lead the USA TODAY Sports preview of the team, game, coach and quarterback facing the most pressure in Week 8 of the regular season:
Team: No. 10 LSU
LSU is either a great team, a very good team, a good team, an average team or an outright disappointment — and sometimes all of the above in the same game.
The Tigers are an enigma, basically, with no wins against Power Four opponents with a winning record and an offense that ranks 104th nationally in points per game against Bowl Subdivision teams. Yet LSU heads into the second half at 5-1 and as one of several SEC teams positioned for a playoff run.
It’s still hard to take the Tigers seriously. They dropped the one matchup against a legitimate team, No. 5 Mississippi. The win against Clemson in the opener means nothing with the Tigers slumping. Of the team’s 18 offensive touchdowns, eight came in a paycheck game against Southeastern Louisiana.
Saturday’s trip to No. 18 Vanderbilt ranks among the biggest games of the Brian Kelly era. A win provides some validation and could be a springboard into subsequent pairings with No. 4 Texas A&M, Alabama and No. 13 Oklahoma.
A loss would be devastating: Given what’s to come, Vanderbilt’s first win in this series since 1990 would put the Tigers’ playoff odds on life support and raise some legitimate questions about the state of Kelly’s program.
Game: No. 5 Mississippi at No. 7 Georgia
This one is bigger for Georgia given the earlier loss to Alabama, though the Bulldogs could lose on Saturday and still wouldn’t be denied a playoff berth should they go on to beat No. 17 Texas and No. 12 Georgia Tech.
Georgia’s hit-or-miss offense went awry in a 20-10 win against Auburn, averaging a season-low 4.3 yards per play and running for just 79 yards on 2.6 yards per carry. This same group won a shootout against the Volunteers in September, however.
Wins against LSU and Tulane have left the unbeaten Rebels in great shape. What we don’t know is how they’ll handle this road environment after playing just Kentucky away from home during the first half.
This is a barometer game for Lane Kiffin and the Rebels. A win would make it official: Ole Miss is a deadly serious national title contender for the first time since the early 1960s.
But a loss could make the ensuing trip to Oklahoma a must-win game, especially if LSU drops off the map down the stretch and Tulane fails to at least play for the American championship.
Coach: Lincoln Riley, Southern California
Beating Michigan jumped USC to No. 21 in Coaches Poll and highlighted some newfound toughness against one of the most physical teams in the Big Ten. The Wolverines had just 109 yards on the ground and were held without a rushing touchdown for just the second time in conference play since the start of the 2022 season.
If the defense is for real — the unit has been much better outside of a meltdown in the loss to Illinois — the Trojans are dark-horse Big Ten contender. Offensively, USC leads the FBS with 8.3 yards per play, ranks second with 552.3 yards per game and third in scoring at 45.5 points per game.
No. 15 Notre Dame will be the best team USC has faced to date. The Fighting Irish dropped single-possession games to No. 2 Miami and Texas A&M but have since ripped through Purdue, Arkansas, Boise State and North Carolina State.
As with Kelly and LSU, you can make the argument for this ranking among the biggest games of the Lincoln Riley era. A win would validate the Trojans’ perceived growth following a disappointing Big Ten debut in 2024, but a loss would reignite concerns that Riley’s program is not constructed to compete with the best teams in the Power Four.
Quarterback: Bear Bachmeier, Brigham Young
After helping No. 14 BYU gut out a double-overtime win against Arizona despite tossing a pair of interceptions, Bachmeier gets his first taste of the Holy War against No. 22 Utah.
The freshman won an intense offseason quarterback competition after former starter Jake Retzlaff transferred to Tulane. He’s played well, by and large, with 1,220 passing yards, another 295 rushing yards on 4.2 yards per carry and 15 combined touchdowns, seven on the ground.
But his numbers — and the Cougars’ unbeaten record — have largely been accumulated against average-to-worse competition. Arizona is the only opponent with a winning record BYU has faced to date; the only other opponent with a non-losing record is East Carolina.
Are the Cougars for real? Is Bachmeier? The questions lingering around the Cougars’ second 6-0 start and the play of their freshman passer will find their answers in Saturday night’s intense rivalry matchup.