Week 8 winners and losers: USC, Clemson lead college football's most disappointing teams

The College Football Playoff is not going to feature either Clemson or USC.

The Tigers dropped their third game of 2023 in a 28-20 overtime loss to Miami while No. 18 USC lost 34-32 at home to No. 14 Utah as the Utes hit a field goal with no time remaining for the win.

Earlier this week, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney complained about the high expectations of Tigers fans after his team’s 4-2 start.

“We’re at a point in time, and I hate that, where people — if you don’t go undefeated [say] ‘You’re losers, you’re terrible.’ And it’s just such a terrible mindset,” Swinney said on his weekly radio show Monday. “And honestly, maybe we need to lose a few games and lighten up the bandwagon. Sometimes the bandwagon can get a little too full.”

Swinney tried to walk back his comments the next day, saying that it was just a small minority of fans who complained. But it’s fair to wonder just how many Clemson fans are jumping off the bandwagon for the rest of the season now that the Tigers are 4-3 and likely out of ACC title contention.

Clemson entered the season with a new offensive coordinator and playoff aspirations. It was clear that an 11-3 campaign that ended with a regular-season loss to South Carolina and an Orange Bowl loss to Tennessee wasn’t good enough. When you win as often as Swinney’s teams have — Clemson has won at least 10 games in every season since 2011 — fans have every right to have high expectations.

Those expectations are not close to being fulfilled and Swinney knows it. It’s likely he made those comments on his radio show out of frustration — frustration borne out of his team’s struggles on the field. Especially on offense, where a quick fix hasn’t materialized. With Saturday night's loss, Clemson has three regular-season losses for the first time since 2010.

Two weeks ago, USC coach Lincoln Riley made some comments that don’t look great in hindsight. On Oct. 10, Riley said that USC’s defense was “much-improved” from 2022 and that it had a chance to “really grow and get better fast” because of various factors.

Four days later, USC got blown out by Notre Dame in a loss that was hardly solely on the defense. Caleb Williams threw three interceptions that led directly to three touchdowns and USC gave up a TD on a kickoff return.

Saturday night’s loss to Utah had a lot to do with the defense, however. A Utah offense that has looked downright painful at times in 2023 had 482 yards on 70 plays as the Utes rushed 47 times for 247 yards.

A year ago, Utah racked up over 1,000 yards and scored 90 points in its two wins over USC. Though Bryson Barnes started Saturday in place of the injured Cam Rising, the Trojans still couldn’t slow the Utes down when they needed to. Barnes had a huge scramble to set up the game-winning field goal and Sione Vaki had over 200 yards of offense in his second game playing both safety and running back.

Like Clemson, the Trojans entered the season with sky-high expectations as Williams was back with a chance to be the first repeat Heisman winner since Archie Griffin.

Instead, both teams are dealing with similar issues in 2023 that plagued them in 2022. And as a result, they’re already staring down the barrel of disappointing seasons.

Here are the rest of our disappointing teams through the first eight weeks of the 2023 season.

Arkansas (2-6): With such a brutal schedule, this was never going to be an easy season for Arkansas. But this has been especially bad. After a 2-0 start, Arkansas has lost six consecutive games to drop to 2-6 on the year. And five of those six losses came by seven points or fewer, including Saturday’s 7-3 home loss to Mississippi State. Sam Pittman’s seat is starting to get very hot.

Boise State (3-4): Boise State played a difficult non-conference schedule, but there weren’t many who predicted the Broncos would be 3-4 through seven games. The Broncos have been very inconsistent on offense and have had some ugly performances on defense. They lost at home to UCF, barely beat a bad San Diego State team, blew a lead in a loss at Memphis and then lost to Colorado State on a last-second Hail Mary. The CSU loss was the worst of all as Boise had a 30-10 lead with six minutes to play.

Pittsburgh (2-5): Pat Narduzzi has been a consistent winner at Pitt, but this season has been ugly. The Panthers lost 21-17 to Wake Forest on Saturday, allowing Wake’s third-string quarterback to throw a game-winning touchdown with seven seconds to play. The loss dropped Pitt to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in ACC play. The Panthers have just one season with a losing record (2017) in Narduzzi’s tenure. A second losing season seems likely.

Texas A&M (4-3): Is Jimbo Fisher’s time at Texas A&M running out? It’d take a record buyout but the fact that it’s even a consideration shows that the Aggies are not living up to expectations. Over the last three seasons, Texas A&M is 17-14 overall and 8-12 in SEC play. The Aggies are 4-3 this year and are currently riding an eight-game road losing streak. With road games at Ole Miss and LSU ahead, the Aggies are staring at a 7-5 season. That’s not what the A&M brass expected in Year 7 for Fisher.

South Carolina (2-5): The Gamecocks have already eclipsed last season’s loss total after a 34-12 defeat to No. 20 Missouri on Saturday. South Carolina could not stop a Missouri pass rush that had no qualms about sending the blitz on nearly every third down. The Tigers had six sacks as South Carolina failed to score a TD. The Gamecocks need to go 4-1 over the last five games to make a bowl now. With games against Texas A&M, Kentucky, and Clemson on the schedule, that’s a tough ask.

TCU (4-4): The Horned Frogs got destroyed by Kansas State on Saturday night in a Big 12 title game rematch. The Wildcats scored TDs on their first three drives for a 21-3 lead and an easy win. Yes, TCU is currently without QB Chandler Morris, but the offense was not playing as well in 2023 as it did in 2022 when he was in the lineup. It was natural to expect a step back after all of the production TCU lost from the 2022 season, but this is a bigger step back than most anyone predicted. With games against Texas and Oklahoma remaining, TCU could miss a bowl game.

Texas Tech (3-5): TTU was down to its third-string quarterback in Saturday night’s 27-14 loss at BYU. But even before that, the Red Raiders had put forth some ugly performances. TTU had a 1-3 start that included a double-OT loss to Wyoming. Entering the bye week, the Red Raiders are 3-5 with a 2-3 mark in Big 12 play. It’s an unfortunate step back for Joey McGuire after a surprising 8-5 record in his first season.

Winners

Virginia: Virginia’s 2022 season ended prematurely by tragedy last fall when three players were killed in an on-campus shooting. The Cavaliers returned to the field this season and really struggled, starting the season with five consecutive losses. But on Saturday, they pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season. Virginia went into Chapel Hill and shocked No. 10 North Carolina, 31-27. The Tar Heels entered the game undefeated at 6-0. In the win, Mike Hollins rushed for three touchdowns. Hollins was wounded in last year’s shooting. Nearly a year later, he was a key cog in Virginia’s first-ever road victory over a top-10 opponent.

Michigan: Even with another scandal swirling around the program, Michigan continues to dominate. The Wolverines destroyed rival Michigan State 49-0 on Saturday night in East Lansing. Michigan actually wasn’t that efficient on the ground, but that opened the door for J.J. McCarthy to complete 21 of 27 passes for 287 yards and four touchdowns. The defense, meanwhile, posted a shutout while limiting the Spartans to only 190 yards of offense. Imagine how much more lopsided the game would have been if MSU did not change its signals.

Oklahoma & Texas: Survive and advance. At this stage in the season, it’s all about stacking wins and sometimes they don’t come as easy as anticipated. Just ask Oklahoma and Texas. The two played a thriller in the Red River Rivalry a few weeks ago and then had an off week. Oklahoma returned to action at home vs. UCF and needed to stop a two-point conversion try with 1:16 to play in order to win 31-29 and improve to 7-0. Texas jumped out to a 21-0 lead over Houston but needed a fourth-down stop at the 10-yard line with 1:03 to play to escape with a 31-24 win and get to 6-1. Will the Sooners and Longhorns stay on their collision course for a Big 12 title game rematch?

Utah: Even with a former walk-on at QB and a safety playing running back, Utah found a way to beat USC again. The Utes beat USC twice in 2022, including in the Pac-12 title game when the Trojans had a CFP berth on the line. The Trojans were out for revenge, but Bryson Barnes and Sione Vaki had excellent performances for the Utes, who won 34-32 on a walk-off field goal at The Coliseum. Barnes threw for 235 yards, rushed for 57 yards and had four total TDs. Vaki caught five passes for 149 yards and two TDs, rushed for 68 yards and posted two tackles. Now 6-1 (3-1 Pac-12), the Utes are firmly in contention to win their third consecutive Pac-12 title.

Kansas State: K-State destroyed TCU 41-3 on Saturday and looks like it’s starting to kick things into high gear. The Wildcats won the Big 12 last year but started 3-2 with road losses to Missouri and Oklahoma State. After the Oklahoma State loss, the Wildcats went on the road and beat Texas Tech, 38-21. In that win, freshman QB Avery Johnson provided a jolt to the offense with five rushing TDs. He and starter Will Howard shared snaps again at home vs. TCU and the pair combined for 244 yards and four TDs through the air and 135 yards on the ground in the win. With the win, K-State improved to 5-2.

Rutgers: Rutgers is bowl eligible. Yes you read that correctly. The Scarlet Knights notched their sixth win of the season on Saturday by beating Indiana, 31-14. Rutgers took the lead early in the second quarter by blocking a punt and returning it for a touchdown. From there, Rutgers dominated on the ground, finishing the day with 276 yards and three TDs rushing. Rutgers was a COVID replacement in the Gator Bowl in 2021. Before that, the last bowl berth for RU came back in 2014. That’s the last time Rutgers finished with a winning season.

Losers

Penn State: Penn State’s offensive flaws were on full display in a 20-12 loss to Ohio State. Before a garbage time touchdown drive in the final minutes, PSU could muster only 167 yards of offense against the Buckeyes. First-year starting QB Drew Allar really struggled, but he didn’t get much help. The receivers can’t get open, the supposedly improved offensive line could not sustain blocks and the coaching staff took a perplexing approach all afternoon. Allar was repeatedly asked to make long throws across the field on plays with slow-developing routes. That’s not a recipe for success when a more-talented team is on the other side of the field. The loss marked the latest short-coming in the tenure of James Franklin, who is now 3-16 vs. AP Top 10 teams and 1-11 vs. AP Top 5 teams at PSU.

Tennessee: Tennessee’s chances of an upset of Alabama looked so good at halftime. The Volunteers led 20-7 and were by far the better team over the first 30 minutes. That all changed as Alabama outscored Tennessee 27-0 in the final 30 minutes to win 34-20. The Vols are now 2-2 in the SEC and are behind Georgia, Missouri and Florida in the SEC East pecking order. A game at Kentucky in Week 9 looms large.

Iowa: Iowa’s complete ineptitude on offense finally proved costly. Iowa had a 10-3 halftime lead over Minnesota at home but ended up losing, 12-10. Minnesota put together three field goal drives in the second half while Iowa could muster a total of 12 yards on 24 plays. Yes, that’s an average of a half-yard per play. There were also two turnovers and two sacks surrendered during that miserable half. Iowa still nearly won the game thanks to the heroics of Cooper DeJean on special teams, but a punt return TD was taken off the board thanks to an “invalid fair catch signal.” The defense and special teams couldn’t bail out Brian Ferentz’s offense this time around.

Auburn: Auburn lost 28-21 to Ole Miss on Saturday in a game that exposed its flaws. Auburn had 275 yards of offense and 67 of those yards came on the team’s final drive. Payton Thorne and Robby Ashford were a combined for 122 passing yards and each threw an interception as the team’s lack of a passing attack is keeping it in the basement of the SEC West and on a four-game losing streak. If there is a bright spot for the Tigers, it’s that the schedule is manageable until Alabama in Week 13. Auburn can still get to a bowl, but this poor play from Hugh Freeze's offense has been a surprise.

Illinois: Bret Bielema nearly led Illinois to the Big Ten West title last year. This year, the Illini are in serious danger of missing a bowl game. Illinois started the year 2-4 with ugly losses to Purdue and Nebraska. Last week, the Illini seemed to have righted the ship with an upset road win over Maryland — until they blew a 21-7 fourth-quarter lead and lost 25-21 to Wisconsin on Saturday at home. With the loss, Illinois dropped to 1-4 in Big Ten play this season.

East Carolina: The Pirates haven’t beaten an FBS team all season after a 10-7 home loss to Charlotte. ECU’s offense has been a big problem in 2023 as the Pirates have failed to score more than 17 points in all but one of their six losses so far. ECU QBs have thrown two touchdowns and six interceptions so far this season and are completing 50% of their passes. On Saturday, ECU was 15-of-32 passing for 88 yards (and a TD!) and rushed 19 times for 39 yards.