The number of bowl eligible programs ballooned after Week 7.
In addition to programs such as No. 1 Georgia or No. 2 Michigan which clinched a bowl trip berth last week, teams like No. 5 Washington and No. 7 Penn State also joined in the group.
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There are 28 programs with one loss to the record, and among them include No. 9 Oregon and No. 18 USC which both suffered their first losses this past weekend.
Here are some noteworthy quotes as focus turns from Week 7 to Week 8.
Nick Saban, Alabama
The Crimson Tide rolled to a fifth-consecutive win after defeating Arkansas 24-21 on Saturday.
But the win didn’t come easy for head coach Nick Saban and Alabama. Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson threw a pair of touchdowns in the second half, and that quickly turned the Crimson Tide’s 24-6 lead into a 24-21 one.
“This is not the kind of team that you all think they are,” Saban said. “They’re a good team and that quarterback is a handful. I mean, when a quarterback can take a major college football player and sling him off like a gnat on the fly’s a–, I mean, a gnat on a cow’s a–, I mean, that was one of the most impressive plays I’ve ever seen a player make. But we said, one guy gets a guy, you got to hold on, you got to hang on and we got to clean them up. We didn’t clean them up. We made a couple of mental errors on defense in some of those drives that led them to get back in the game, too. We run a stunt the wrong way, quarterback, runs for 25 yards on a big play when it was second and long. But we learn from all these things.”
Deion Sanders, Colorado
Colorado’s hype train has seen the highs and lows and everything in between.
Saturday revealed a new wrinkle to the Buffaloes’ season, as they surrendered a 29-0 lead and lost in double overtime 46-43 to Stanford.
Head coach Deion Sanders has spoken about a number of themes surrounding this season for Colorado. From maintaining belief to managing expectations, Sanders posed a question to his team after their third loss in four games.
“What I just said in the locker room to the team is they got to make up in mind are they in love with this game or are they in like with it because when you love something you give to it unconditionally,” Sanders said. “You give everything you got to it but when you like it that’s just the button you push. Like something is a like, that’s what they do on social media so we got to figure out do they love it or do they like it, and it’s hard for me because I love this. I love it. Without a shadow of a doubt, I am truly, 100% in love with this thing, and I just want people to match me. Just match my passion, match my heart, match my love, match my consistency, just match, my mannerisms is match. Every darn thing I give to this game. I love this. Sadly, I love it so much but the game don’t even occupy the ability to love you back. That’s a strange love, isn’t it?”
Xavier Watts, Notre Dame
Notre Dame picked up some redemption on Saturday.
The Fighting Irish were tasked with hosting then-No. 10 USC, which has been led by reigning Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams.
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The Fighting Irish, simply, had Williams and the Trojans’ number.
Notre Dame picked off Williams three times in the first half and forced five turnovers altogether during its 48-20 victory.
Junior safety Xavier Watts played a large role in the outcome of the game, picking off Williams twice for a pair of interceptions in addition to his seven tackles, which were second-most on the team.
Watts also finished with a pass breakup and a forced fumble, and he directed all of the praise to his teammates.
“At the end of the day, we all just need to believe in each other,” Watts said. “We all love each other. We work out every day with each other, we practice, we’re with each other 24/7 so just staying together just makes it a lot stronger and it showed up today.”
