2022 College Football Insider Week 8

Quote of the week

TEAM TO WATCH: TENNESSEE

Tennessee’s 52-49 win over Alabama has shaken up the CFP field and improved its chance at returning to the Fiesta Bowl for the first time since 1999. The win snapped Alabama’s streak of 40 straight Top 5 appearances in the AP Poll.

A 40-yard field goal as time expired sealed it for the Vols, set up by quarterback Hendon Hooker’s 0:13, 45-yard drive. Hooker’s performance solidified him as a Heisman front-runner, completing 21 passes for 385 yards and five touchdowns. Wideout Jalin Hyatt recorded six receptions for 207 yards and caught all five of Hooker’s touchdowns—a Tennessee record— including the score to tie it at 49-49 with 3:26 left to play.

Tennessee’s two hardest remaining matchups come back-to-back against Kentucky and then on the road at Georgia. The Vols will first play UT Martin at 9:00 a.m. PHX on Saturday.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Utah

Utah rebounded from a loss at UCLA in another challenging Pac-12 matchup as it hosted No. 7 USC. The Utes went down 21-7 but turned things around with a 36-point second half, capped by a gutsy two-point conversion to take its first lead of the game with less than a minute to play—a call head coach Kyle Whittingham said he had “no question” about making. Utah kept USC from any last-minute heroics and solidified the 43-42 upset victory, handing the Trojans their first loss of the Lincoln Riley era.

The win was compounded by the night’s importance to Utah—the team sported hand-painted helmets in honor of fallen teammates Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe, who passed last season. Their mothers were presented with the game ball in the locker room post game, sealing a meaningful win at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Utah next faces Washington State at 7:00 p.m. PHX on October 27 on FS1.

“I was thinking, I wonder what my mom’s doing up in the stands right now? I’m not sure if she watched… That’s typically the discussion after big kicks, is whether she was able to even watch or not.“

- West Virginia kicker and Guaranteed Rate Bowl alum Casey Legg on what was going through his head before his game-winning field goal against Baylor

games of the

game of the week

The ACC’s top two teams face off in this must-win matchup, as the Tigers and the Orange vie for first place in the conference. Clemson also looks to move further into the College Football Playoff picture, while Syracuse attempts to maintain its surprise season and improve its chance at winning the Atlantic Division and contending for the conference title.

Syracuse is coming off a decisive 24-9 win over then-No. 15 NC State, while Clemson has three wins over ranked opponents under its belt this season. We’ll see which one of these nine remaining undefeated FBS teams will fall on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. PHX on ABC.

2022 Bowl PREDICTIONS

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF

SEMIFINAL AT THE VRBO FIESTA BOWL:

ESPN Bonagura

ESPN Schlabach

Ohio State vs. Clemson

Ohio State vs. Tennessee

College Football News

USA Today

Ohio State vs. Oregon

Ohio State vs. Clemson

GUARANTEED RATE BOWL:

ESPN Bonagura

ESPN Schlabach

Iowa vs. Texas Tech

Iowa vs.

College Football News

USA Today

Iowa vs.

Minnesota vs. Kansas

CBS

State vs. Clemson Action Network

Georgia vs. Tennessee

CBS

Wisconsin vs. Oklahoma Action Network

Iowa vs.

The New York Jets stunned Green Bay on Sunday with a win at Lambeau, and rookie running back Breece Hall played a significant role in the upset. The 2021 Fiesta Bowl alum from Iowa State racked up 121 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown to help the Jets record their 27-10 victory.

In the Fiesta Bowl, Hall carried 34 times—one short of a Bowl record—for 136 yards and two TDs. His volume has continued in the NFL, as his 76 carries is second among rookies while his 609 all-purpose yards is easily the most of any rookie. While 116 of his yards at Green Bay came on the ground, Hall has proven to be a receiving threat as well—last week against Miami, he recorded 100 receiving yards in addition to 97 rushing.

The Jets face the Broncos this Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PHX.

Big NEWS!

The Guaranteed Rate Bowl features Bowl Season’s only Big Ten vs. Big 12 matchup. As we eagerly await the Dec. 27 kickoff, we’re bringing you weekly game highlights, player reports, and other updates from the two conferences. Here’s the BIG news for week eight:

Big Ten Big 12

• The Big Ten has four teams in the AP Top 10 heading into week eight: No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Michigan, No. 16 Penn State and No. 18 Illinois. Purdue, Minnesota and Maryland also received votes. Illinois is back in the rankings for the first time since 2011.

• Of the nine FBS teams that remain undefeated, two are from the Big Ten: Michigan and Ohio State.

• Purdue has won four straight games for the first time since 2018, defeating Nebraska 43-37 on Saturday. Aidan O’Connell threw for 300 yards for the 12th time in his career, tying Curtis Painter for the third-most in school history. O’Connell has thrown for 200 yards in 20 of 21 career starts and threw four touchdown passes for the fifth time in his career.

• The Illini’s Chase Brown became the first running back in the nation to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark this season. He has 1,059 rushing yards to lead the nation, while also leading the country with 1,166 all-purpose yards. Brown has rushed for over 100 yards in an Illinois-record eight straight games.

• The Big 12 has four teams in the AP Top 25 this week: No. 8 TCU, No. 11 Oklahoma State, No. 17 Kansas State and No. 20 Texas. Kansas also received votes.

• TCU is one of the nine FBS teams that remain undefeated and has gained bowl eligibility. Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Texas are one win away.

• Every Big 12 team is in the NCAA top 50 strength of schedule: 8. Iowa State, 10. Texas, 24. K-State, 26. TCU, 28. Kansas, 31. West Virginia, T-36. Baylor and Texas Tech, 40. Oklahoma and 48. Oklahoma State.

• The Big 12 leads all conferences in scoring (36.3 ppg), total yards (449.3), rushing yards (183.2), pass completion pct. (65.3), passer rating (149.3), TD/INT ratio (3.46), and is tied for the top spot in passing TD pct. (6.3). It also has the lowest interception pct. (1.8).

MORE THAN JUST A GAME ®

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT: JASON DE LUIGI’S CONTRIBUTIONS GO BEYOND BOX SCORE

When the Beaver County (PA) Sports Hall of Fame was ready to announce its 2020 class, the pandemic caused the ceremony to be rescheduled three times. For Fiesta Bowl Yellow Jacket Committee Member Dr. Jason De Luigi, the hall’s third inductee in the sports medicine field, it was worth the wait.

De Luigi earned a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2001. He joined the Army after medical school and was twice-awarded an Army Commendation Medal (2007, 2010) and a Bronze Star Medal (2009).

He began a sports fellowship at Georgetown University following his military service, paving the way to roles like Head Team Physician with the Washington Wizards and Medical Director and Head Team Physician with the Washington Mystics. He moved to Arizona in 2018, where he now works for the Mayo Clinic, Phoenix Rising, and will soon serve as the Medical Director of the 2023 Waste Management Phoenix Open. He joined the Fiesta Bowl Organization in 2019, immediately impressed with the organization’s charitable impact.

“This is much more than a football game,” said De Luigi. “It is a major impact on the community. This is a terrific way for me to be part of the game but also be more part of the community.”

CHARITY SPOTLIGHT: NOTMYKID

Each year, more than 100,000 youth and adults from the Valley of the Sun receive services from notMYkid such as drug prevention, early intervention, peer and one-on-one counseling, and intensive outpatient treatment. Founded in 1999, the organization—one of 40 Fiesta Bowl Charities grant recipients for 2022-23—educates and helps families maintain positive and healthy kids.

Before the pandemic, notMYkid was only a prevention organization. Given the changing educational environment, notMYkid quickly adapted to provide much-needed mental health services for children given COVID’s lasting impact on student performance and mental health. In 2021, it opened a 13,000 square-foot campus in Scottsdale where families can receive treatment and services.

“We realized we needed to create that space to have families come to us,” said Sarah Grado, Grants and Contracts Administrator for notMYkid. “We have to offer all services because these kids are going to need [it]. We knew the healthcare system was not ready to handle this wave of adolescent mental health needs.”

With the help of the Fiesta Bowl Charities grant, notMYkid provides mental health services to children at their campus and through school programs.

“We’ve wanted to partner with Fiesta Bowl Charities for a really long time,” said Grado. “We were just waiting for the right opportunity. They are all about being active and helping and how physical health is tied to mental health.”