Week 8 delivered plenty of drama for the SEC, with an unranked South Carolina team pulling off one of the league’s biggest shocks and Texas, Ole Miss and Alabama all surviving tense finishes in their own way.
The upset of the weekend landed in Columbia, South Carolina, where the Gamecocks knocked off No. 11 Tennessee, 27-24.
LaNorris Sellers did the heavy lifting offensively, finishing 18 of 32 for 210 yards and a touchdown while also punching in the game-tying rushing score late in the fourth quarter. His Herculean effort helped push South Carolina over the top.
The finish turned on a defensive swing from Dylan Stewart, who was suspended earlier this season. He forced the key turnover by knocking the ball free from George MacIntyre’s hands, and that set up Shane Beamer’s team for the walk-off field goal.
Texas also spent the afternoon trying to avoid a collapse, and just barely did. Arch Manning and No.
18 Texas held on for a 34-27 win over No. 7 Ole Miss after nearly giving away a second-half lead at home for the third straight game.
Manning went 18 of 30 for 212 yards and a touchdown, but he also threw two interceptions and was strip-sacked. Even so, he added two rushing touchdowns to help the Longhorns get back in the win column.
Ole Miss made Texas earn every bit of it. The Rebels scored 21 unanswered points to pull even at 24-24 in the second half, then put together a late sequence that had a real chance to flip the result. They hit a field goal, recovered an onside kick and moved inside the Texas 30-yard line before Trinidad Chambliss’ final heave to the end zone was intercepted as time expired.
Alabama had its own close call in Tuscaloosa, where a banged-up 13th-ranked team was staring at a third straight defeat. Instead, the Crimson Tide finally found some second-half pop, scoring its first second-half touchdowns since Week 5 to beat Texas A&M 31-20. The win sends Alabama into a bye, and it could not have arrived at a better time.
College football rankings after Week 8
SEC teams in bold. First-place votes in parentheses.
US LBM Coaches Poll
This section will be updated when the US LBM Coaches Poll is unveiled.
AP Top 25
In Other News...
Arch Manning Added One More Twist To Ole Miss Loss
Saturdays loss to Texas already came with the kind of national-stage weight Ole Miss fans know all too well, and ABCs top broadcast crew only added to the spotlight. Holly Rowe was on the sideline for the game, which Texas won to stay unbeaten in her presence, and the postgame scene had a little extra edge because of the attention around the Longhorns all afternoon.
Arch Manning leaned into that bit of theater after the game, joking with Rowe that she ought to cover more Texas games. It was a light moment after a tense matchup, and a reminder of how quickly these broadcasts can turn into their own subplot, especially with the earlier Manning-Rowe-Steve Sarkisian controversy now in the rearview. [Read more 🡒]
Paul Finebaum Just Reopened A Painful Ole Miss Quarterback Debate
The late-game mistakes that decided a pair of recent SEC showdowns have put quarterbacks back at the center of the conversation, and Paul Finebaum made sure the Ole Miss angle stayed in focus. On ESPN, Finebaum criticized both Texas quarterback Arch Manning and Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss for the turnovers and miscues that helped shape those outcomes, including the Rebels rally in their loss to Texas.
For Ole Miss fans, the frustration is less about one bad stretch than the familiar discomfort of a quarterback debate that never seems to go away cleanly. Finebaum also pointed to Tennessee quarterback George MacIntyres late errors in a loss to South Carolina, but Chambliss three interceptions in the close game against Texas are the part Rebels followers will hear most loudly, because it puts the spotlight right back on how much trust the offense can place in him when the game tightens. [Read more 🡒]
Kirk Herbstreit Had The Perfect Reaction To Ole Miss Wild Finish
Ole Miss pulled off a frantic late rally against Texas in Week 8, even if the comeback ultimately fell short. After tying the game, the Rebels had one more surge of drama in them with an onside kick recovery that sent the broadcast booth into the kind of disbelief college football lives for, and Kirk Herbstreit made it clear he was enjoying the moment as much as anyone watching at home.
Herbstreit later shared video of his reaction, saying he was rooting for the sequence itself rather than either team, which fit the chaos of the finish. Hell be back on College GameDay in Week 9 for Minnesota-Indiana in Bloomington, but for one wild stretch on Saturday night, the spotlight belonged to Ole Miss and a finish that had everyone glued to the screen. [Read more 🡒]