College Football Top 25: Recapping Week 8, previewing Week 9

22. Iowa State (5-2)

Week 8 result: Defeated Oklahoma State 24-21

Head coach Matt Campbell has gotten his team back into the AP Top 25 after losing twice early in the season. Iowa State is back on track winning their last three and have finally looked like the team who was ranked in the preseason top 10.

The offense is hitting its stride after looking pretty brutal to start the year. Quarterback Brock Purdy is playing better than ever and so is running back Breece Hall who had very high expectations going into this year.

The Cyclones beat undefeated Oklahoma State on Saturday which was a huge win for Campbell and this program. Both teams actually played pretty well but it was the Iowa State defense that came up big down the stretch with some huge defensive stops.

Purdy has reasserted himself as a very solid quarterback after getting benched earlier this season. He finished with a season-high 307 yards and a PFF passing grade of 71.0 in this game.

Next game: vs. West Virginia
My prediction: Win 32-24

23. UTSA (8-0)

Week 8 result: Defeated Louisiana Tech 45-16

After being down 10-7 at the end of the first, UTSA went on a tear scoring the next 35 points in the game. The Roadrunners made easy work of the Bulldogs to remain unbeaten. They were ferocious on both sides of the ball.

Defensively, they were in the quarterback’s face all game long recording six total sacks. Linebacker Clarence Hicks got 2.5 of those sacks himself and scored a PFF grade of 77.1. On offense, they had two stars in this one. Wide receiver Zakhari Franklin caught five passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns. This resulted in a final PFF grade of 83.0 for him. Running back Sincere McCormick was the other star who ran 113 yards and 3 touchdowns.

UTSA is one of only two teams in the country who are 8-0. It will now enter a bye week.

Next game: Bye