Saturday Night Five: USC and Washington tumble, ASU survives and BYU wins the Holy War as Week 8 delivers the drama

Instant reaction to Week 8 developments on the field …

1. USC gonna USC

If that was, in fact, USC’s final visit to Notre Dame — and let’s all hope the schools find a way to extend the storied series — the Trojans went out in fitting style.

With a 34-24 loss: Their seven consecutive defeat in South Bend.

With a terrible running game: They averaged just 2.3 yards per carry.

With an awful run defense: Notre Dame bulldozed for 306 yards.

It was an entirely predictable performance from a team whose head coach, Lincoln Riley, has not learned from years of mistakes.

You don’t beat good teams on the road, in South Bend or across the Big Ten, with second-rate play at the line of scrimmage — without being able to run the ball or stop the run in key situations.

The best example Saturday evening came with USC trailing by 10 points midway through the fourth quarter. Facing fourth-and-1 near midfield, a situation that screamed for a brute-force running play between the tackles — even a quarterback sneak would have sufficed — the Trojans attempted a pass to the perimeter that fell incomplete.

Any chance to salvage a victory splattered on the turf, as well.

It could not have been more on-brand for Riley or a greater gift for the Irish, who dominated the line of scrimmage as they have so often against USC in recent years.

Notre Dame’s victory has major consequences for USC (5-2), the Big Ten and all the power conferences.

With a 5-2 record and soft finishing schedule, the Irish are positioned for a 10-win season that likely will result in another College Football Playoff berth.

But because Notre Dame competes as an Independent, it qualifies as one of seven at-large participants.

If the Irish are invited, only six berths are available for non-champions from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC.

Everyone needed the Trojans to win to knock out Notre Dame. But as is often the case with Riley’s teams, they weren’t tough enough where it mattered most.

2. More road woes for UW

USC wasn’t the only team to deliver an on-brand performance. Washington did exactly that in its Big Noon date at Michigan.

The Huskies started well enough against the unranked Wolverines but were not competitive in the second half of a 24-7 loss in the Big House.

It was their sixth Big Ten game in the eastern half of the country since the start of last season. They have lost five. (The only win came a few weeks ago at Maryland.)

What’s more, the Huskies have failed to cover the point spread in all six — that’s not easy to do, folks.

Washington (5-2) has a manageable stretch upcoming and should have no trouble securing a bowl berth. But the loss in Ann Arbor effectively extinguishes any chance of competing for a CFP at-large bid.

The problem is fairly simple to dissect: Opposing defenses have loaded the line of scrimmage to contain tailback Jonah Coleman and dare quarterback Demond Williams Jr. to win games through the air.

Against the less-talented opponents, Williams has been terrific.

Washington is averaging 46 points in its five wins (Colorado State, UC Davis, Washington State, Maryland and Rutgers).

In the two losses, to Ohio State and Michigan, the Huskies have scored 13 points.

That’s 13 total points.

UW won’t face an elite defense until the season finale against Oregon.

3. Another ASU thriller

The early afternoon broadcast window produced two staples of the season: A riveting Big 12 game and a last-minute thriller involving Arizona State.

The Sun Devils led undefeated Texas Tech by 12 with roughly four minutes remaining, but the Red Raiders ripped off 15 points in a flash to grab a 22-19 lead, then were one defensive play away from sealing the victory.

But as they have done so often, ASU quarterback Sam Leavitt teamed with receiver Jordyn Tyson for a last-minute escape — a 33-yard catch-and-run that gave the Sun Devils possession just outside the Red Zone.

A subsequent pass interference penalty on Texas Tech set up the Sun Devils’ winning touchdown win 34 seconds left.

The 26-22 victory was the fourth ASU game this season decided by four points or less. The Devils have won three (Baylor, TCU and Texas Tech) and lost one (Mississippi State).

The Hotline is admittedly skeptical by nature, but it’s difficult to imagine ASU (5-2) will continue winning close games at this rate. Too many breaks must fall right.

And remember: When ASU marched through the Big 12 last season, only three of its nine games were decided by five points or less. The current pace of late escapes can’t be maintained … right?

4. Holy lore

Few outcomes in college football are as predictable as the final margin in the Holy War. Regardless of the identity of the victor, the bitter rivalry is ridiculously competitive.

BYU’s 24-21 victory on Saturday marked the13th occasion in the past two decades that the game was decided by a touchdown or less.

It was also BYU’s third consecutive victory over Utah, a feat the Cougars hadn’t accomplished since the early 1990s.

The Utes had plenty of chances and out-gained BYU by more than 100 yards. But they committed two turnovers and 12 penalties while the Cougars had zero and five.

Also, Utes coach Kyle Whittingham eschewed field goals three times in favor of fourth-down attempts, and the Utes were stopped each time. (Whittingham attributed the repeated fourth-down tries to the “analytics.”)

Those nine points could have come in handy.

The victory left the Cougars (7-0) tied for first place in the Big 12, along with Cincinnati. And if you predicted that unusual pairing would be atop the conference at the midway point, consider playing the Powerball lottery.

Utah’s situation isn’t hopeless, but help is required considering the Utes (5-2) have head-to-head losses to two teams (BYU and Texas Tech) that are ahead of them in the standings.

The Cougars might not hold their ground — the upcoming schedule is unforgiving — but the Utes have no margin for error. They must run the table to have any shot at securing a spot in the Big 12 title game.

Given the modest downfield threat posed by Utah quarterback Devon Dampier and the aerial game, winning out seems unlikely.

5. Rinse, wash, repeat

Although their performances didn’t fit neatly into any sort of larger trends, UCLA, Arizona and Washington State all followed plots that have become familiar recently.

— The Bruins won their third consecutive game under interim coach Tim Skipper, turning a 68-yard drive in the final minute into a game-winning field goal.

Remarkably, UCLA (3-4/3-1) is part of a seven-team tie for third place in the Big Ten — the same tier occupied by Oregon and USC. It won’t last, however. The Bruins visit Indiana next weekend, then venture to Ohio State in November. And they finish with Washington and USC.

Skipper has done stellar work stabilizing the program. But a bowl berth remains unlikely.

— Arizona absorbed another gut-punch loss. One week after losing at home to BYU in overtime, the Wildcats were beaten by a walk-off field goal in Houston.

The 31-28 loss was highly entertaining and largely rooted in mistakes. The Wildcats couldn’t stop Houston’s running game (232 yards) and were called for an inexcusable sideline interference penalty during a critical stretch.

They also were on the wrong end of two massive officiating gaffes — one of which should prompt a public explanation from the Big 12 office, in our view: The failure to call an illegal motion penalty on Houston on the game-winning drive when a running back was clearly moving forward at the time of the snap. (The lack of a penalty left Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira dumbfounded.)

The bottom line? Coach Brent Brennan and his staff must make optimum use of the bye week before the Wildcats (4-3) head to Boulder. Their path into the postseason is becoming increasingly narrow.

— The Hotline did not think Washington State could muster another momentous effort — not playing in the eastern half of the country, against a Power Four opponent, for the second consecutive week.

But the Cougars pushed Virginia to the limit in a 22-20 loss that followed a three-point defeat at Mississippi.

Yep, Washington State’s two best performances of the season came in the most unlikely of circumstances. The Cougars (3-4) lost both, by a combined score of 46-41. But if they replicate the effort, especially on defense, the Cougars should secure three more wins and a bowl berth.

That’s not the outcome we expected from WSU.

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