Looking back at the chaos of the 2007 college football season

Week 8: October 18-20, 2007

Week 8 featured three showdowns between Top 25 teams, two in the SEC and another in the Big 12. In Baton Rouge, Demetrius Byrd caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Matt Flynn with one second remaining for the winning touchdown in No. 4 LSU’s 30-24 win over No. 17 Auburn. In other Saturday action, No. 16 Missouri blew out No. 24 Texas Tech 41-10 at home. The one game that went against the numbers was hardly shocking, as No. 15 Florida took down No. 7 Kentucky 45-38 in Lexington.

The upsets to unranked opponents extended up and down the rankings as five different unranked teams took down Top 25 programs in Week 8. Two other SEC schools fell as well on Saturday as part of the upset avalanche. No. 6 South Carolina lost at home to Vanderbilt, upset 17-6 as the Gamecocks coughed up four turnovers on the day. In Tuscaloosa, unranked Alabama took down No. 21 Tennessee 41-17 in the annual showdown on the third Saturday in October.

More from Saturday Blitz

• Michigan State vs. Maryland: Location, time, prediction, and more
• ACC Power Rankings: Can #4 FSU overthrow Clemson at Death Valley East?
• Most heartwarming social media reactions to Nick Chubb’s injury
• Ranking college football’s top 10 quarterbacks after Week 3
• Things are going to get much darker for the Houston Cougars

At the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Nate Longshore returned from injury to start at quarterback for No. 12 California. Longshore threw for 232 yards and three touchdowns, but he also threw three picks to the other team. Justin Forsett was held to 76 yards on the ground, while UCLA’s Kahlil Bell was able to churn out 142 yards for the Bruins. Down 21-20 at the start of the fourth quarter, UCLA scored the final 10 points of the game to run away with the 30-21 upset.

Over in the Big East, the upsets continued on Saturday as Pittsburgh took down No. 23 Cincinnati at home. LeSean McCoy and LaRod Stephens-Howling both rushed for over 100 yards for the Panthers. The Bearcats took a 17-3 lead into the intermission, but lost three turnovers on their final three drives to fall 24-17 on the road.

The Big Upset of the Week

Of course, the biggest Big East upset of Week 8 came early. For the third straight week, the No. 2 team in the country was toppled. South Florida didn’t last long in the No. 2 spot of the BCS standings. Just four days after rising to a prime position in the polls, the Bulls turned around and lost to Rutgers on Thursday night.

USF’s defense held Scarlet Knights quarterback Mike Teel to 179 yards on 11-of-29 passing, though he did get two touchdowns. Ray Rice led the way for Rutgers, racking up 181 punishing rushing yards. But he also coughed up a fumble late in the fourth quarter that opened the door for a potential comeback bid by the Bulls.

Instead, the Rutgers defense locked down to preserve yet another major upset over a top-ranked school. The Bulls went three and out after the fumble, then threw an interception on their final possession. Teel took a couple of knees, and the clock ran down to zeroes. Despite winning the turnover battle, South Florida’s comeback bid fell short.

South Florida has never come as close to a national championship opportunity in the decade since. losing to Rutgers. USF fell to No. 10 in the second set of BCS standings and continued falling over the rest of the year.

After the collapse of the Big East, the Bulls became a Group of Five school in the reconfigured American Athletic Conference. Rutgers joined the Big Ten after the dissolution of the Big East, moving up in the conference hierarchy. A decade later, the Scarlet Knights are the Power Five school on the downward trajectory while South Florida could belatedly reach their first major bowl game in 2017.