College Football 2017: Ranking the 3 worst losses of Week 8

Last week, Texas Tech entered its showdown with West Virginia at No. 24 in the AP Top 25. The Red Raiders fell to the Mountaineers to drop out of the poll, but they were still favored by nearly a touchdown at home against Iowa State. Instead, they were blown out 31-13 in Lubbock in one of the worst losses of the week.

Perhaps the oddsmakers should have taken Iowa State more seriously. The Cyclones have now won three straight after taking down Kliff Kingsbury’s team by three scores. Despite losing starting quarterback Jacob Park, Iowa State has continued to reel off a surprising season. Even then, we’re talking about Iowa State, a team with the longest active conference title drought in college football.

Related Story: Iowa State Football: Cyclones in thick of Big 12 race

Kyle Kempt is now 3-0 as a starter after taking over for Park, with a huge upset of Oklahoma in Norman and now another big road win in Lubbock. Kempt outdueled the more-heralded Nic Shimonek, throwing for three touchdowns to zero for his counterpart. Iowa State’s defense clamped down all around the Red Raiders, holding their prolific hosts to just 326 total yards of offense and 13 points.

Unable to gain any momentum, the Red Raiders effectively lost any chance of mounting a dark-horse bid in the Big 12 this season. Instead, they ceded that turf to the Cyclones after sustaining one of the three worst losses in Week 8.